Four Days
by sol invictus
Summary: Zack is kidnapped and the clock races as everyone tries to find him. FINISHED! Finally.
1. prologue

Zack was no longer in the mood for his mother's worry as he knelt before the toilet. "Yes I'm just absolutely fantastic," he wanted to yell each time she knocked on the door and asked if he was doing okay. "I always spend my spare time in the bathroom puking my guts out and I happen to love it." Well, he would have said that if he could have found the time between the dry heaves that felt as if they were tearing his insides apart.

After what seemed like a year everything stopped and Zack wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He pushed away from the porcelain throne and collapsed on the cool tile floor, moaning. He reached a shaky hand up to the towel rack and pulled a huge towel down and covered himself, having decided he was too tired to get up and go back to bed. "I'll just lay here for a little bit and get my energy back," he told himself as his eyes closed.

Carey was sitting out in the living room trying to not hear her son being sick but couldn't help it no matter how much attention she paid to whatever the horrible movie that happened to be on at five in the morning was called. Something with Jamie Lee What'sherface and an electrical space virus. Not much of a chance that movie won any awards, she thought to herself.

Carey had always said she'd switch places with either of her children in a second when they were sick or hurt but after seeing two days of this it might take her as long as ten seconds to swap with her oldest. Not a sound had come out of the bathroom in a few minutes so she pulled herself out of her chair and walked to the door.

"Zack?" she said as she rapped lightly. "Zack?" Getting no response she cracked the door open and looked in. She looked on with a heavy heart as she saw her son curled up and covered with a fluffy white towel. Part of her wanted to wake him up and get him back in bed but this was the first sound sleep he'd really had since this all started so she left him there, making a quick trip to grab a pillow and a real blanket from the couch to make him a little more comfortable.

She returned to the living room and glanced at the clock, figuring she had at least two hours before Cody got up and those hours would best be spent asleep. Jamie Lee _Curtis, _Carey suddenly remembered as she flipped the television off and went back to her room. She willed herself to remember to call the school in the morning.

Shortly before seven Cody woke up and plodded his way to the bathroom. His hazy mind took a moment to realize exactly what was laying before the toilet but once it did he giggled. "Move over, Zack," he said, toeing his brother in the leg. "I have to pee."

A single eye opened and stared at him. "So pee then."

"You're kinda in the way."

"Tough. Not moving." Zack pulled the blanket over his head. "Dribble on me and die," came muffled from beneath.

Cody looked at his brother for a moment and knelt down in front of him. "C'mon, let's get you back to bed."

"Mom let me sleep here."

"That's because Mom can't pick you up anymore. I can. I think."

Zack groaned. "I don't feel good, Cody, leave me alone."

"Nope. Put your hand around my neck and I'll lift you up."

"Just pee, dammit, and leave me alone," Zack protested even as he slipped an arm around his brother's neck and let Cody's fingers go around his waist and under his knees.

"Where's your shirt?" Cody asked him as the towel and blanket slid away, leaving Zack in only a pair of sweatpants.

"In the tub. Puked on it."

"Nice."

"Just don't drop me, Cody. I think I might break," Zack told him, his voice sounding very far away.

"I promise." Cody slowly got to his feet, swaying slightly under his brother's weight, and started walking back to their bedroom. Cody was about to tell Zack that if he stayed sick another few days he'd be as thin as he was but a light snore told him that his brother had already fallen back to sleep. Cody grinned as he laid Zack on the bed and pulled the covers over him, only then realizing how much his arms were burning from the effort. With his brother now taken care of, he could now go about getting ready for school.

Zack woke up sometime around noon and put his arms behind his head and tried to go back to sleep. He laid in bed for a few minutes before he had the feeling he was being watched. He shot a glance over to Cody's bed and saw his mother laying on it, watching him.

"Hey sunshine," she said with a smile. "That must have been some dream you were having."

"Huh?"

"You were mumbling and tossing around like crazy. You don't remember?" Zack shook his head in a definitive 'no'. "That might be good then. My mother always said that was a sign you were starting to get better."

"She also said she could talk to dogs," Zack told her with as straight a face as he could manage.

"Well, maybe she could." Carey couldn't help but grin. "So how're you feeling? Any better?"

"Maybe. I think I might actually be hungry."

"Toast it is," Carey said to him.

"How about a cheeseburger?

"How about we see if you can keep the toast down and then we'll talk about a cheeseburger? Or you can go hungry."

"Toast it is," Zack told her. He watched his mother hop off the bed and walk out of the room and into the kitchen, returning a few minutes with two pieces of toast. She rubbed his head and then left him to the business of eating.

Zack managed to keep the toast down for nearly an entire hour. Needless to say there was no cheeseburger in the Martin household that afternoon.

After Zack had washed his mouth out for what seemed like the hundredth time over the last few days he crawled back in to bed and pulled his new laptop in with him. Kurt had bought each boy a new computer a week ago after the band signed a record deal and received a rather hefty advance. He'd wanted to do more but Carey said that would be more than enough for now since their birthdays weren't that far off and he could spoil them then.

So Zack fired it up and started messing around, trying to remember some of what he'd seen Cody do since he wasn't much of a computer geek on his own. He could get on the 'net and play a few games but that was about it. Eventually he became bored with solitaire and somehow came to find himself in a chat room. Zack lurked for a few minutes, watching the multiple conversations zip past almost faster than he could read them.

He was laughing at a joke when a little window popped up and blinked at him. "Hey" it said and naturally Zack replied the same. Half an hour later found him still chatting with a kid named Kevin who'd recently moved from Philly to just outside of Boston. _GoodbyeAI,_ or so Kevin was called on the messenger, seemed like a pretty cool kid to Zack. They spent the next two hours talking basketball, each trying to prove to the other that their teams weren't as bad as their records showed.

"It's been fun talking to you, Zack, but I've got to go now," Kevin typed.

"Yeah, it's been a blast," Zack replied.

"Talk to you tomorrow if we're both still sick?"

"For sure!"

"Later days then," Kevin said as he signed off.

Zack snoozed for the remainder of the afternoon, waking up only to try eating again around dinner time. This attempt was more successful and he was almost, almost mind you, ready to go back to school. He stayed home the next day just to be on the safe side and spent the majority of the day chatting with Kevin again.

The following day was only different in that he didn't have his new friend to hang out with all day. Zack played around and wasted the day until he got a message shortly after three.

"So, do you think the Celtics will win twenty games all season?" Kevin greeted Zack that afternoon.

"Pffft no."

"Me neither," Kevin shot back. "Sorry I've got to keep this short but I went back to school today and have a ton of work to catch up on. I do have some news though."

"Oh? What's up?"

"My mother is going to be in the city on Saturday on some business and if you're feeling up to it we could meet somewhere and hang out for a few hours."

"Dude! That would be awesome!" Zack typed back. "When?"

"Around three or so. Any idea of where we should go?"

"Well," Zack said, hesitating, "there's a mall about a mile from my house. Colonial Park or something like that. There's a big arcade and all sorts of other things."

"I think that sounds like a plan," Kevin told him.

"Cool. I'll wear my white Celtics hat and black jacket and meet you in front of the arcade at about three."

The two kids finalized their plans before Kevin disappeared to tackle the mountain of homework. Zack closed his messenger and laid back on his pillow and thought about the homework that would be awaiting him tomorrow. "Ugh," Zack said as he pulled the blankets over his head. As tired as he was of laying in bed and eating whatever his mother deemed 'sick food', the thought of all the work he'd have to make up made seeing all his friends seem not quite as awesome an idea.

If he could make it through one day of school though...he'd have the weekend to catch up on some of the work as well as meet his new friend.


	2. prologue pt2

School on Friday was...in a word, long. Zack was no longer sick but he was still feeling the after effects. He hadn't eaten much at all in the previous four days so he was a more than a little weak all around and felt like a drained battery. Walking up or down the steps just seemed to wipe him out and he was looking forward to sitting in one of the hard cafeteria chairs for half an hour.

"You doing okay?" Cody asked him as they settled in for lunch. "Because you really look like crap."

"Thanks, Cody," Zack said sarcastically. "I feel like I was thrown down a flight of steps."

"If it's any consolation, Zack, you don't look _that_ bad."

"Of course I don't. I'm Zachary Martin. I make sick look good."

"Your modesty astounds me as always," Cody laughed as he started eating.

Zack pushed his food around on his plate and watched everyone else dig in. He was never a fan of school lunches in the first place but today they seemed even less appealing than normal. The hamburger looked like congealed dog food and the French fries looked like they were thousand year old fossils. Zack groaned and pushed the tray away, saying "_so _done with this" under his breath and deciding that he'd wait and hope that his mother could come up with something that was at least remotely appetizing.

"Don't want your fries?" Cody asked him, raising an eyebrow at his brother.

"Nope. I'm hungry but not for any of this stuff. Looking at it is making my stomach hurt."

"You aren't going to barf on me, are you?"

"No, I'm done with all that. I just need to get my appetite back and this radioactive sludge isn't helping."

"You mind then?" Cody motioned at Zack's plate.

"Have at it." Cody had at it and Zack had to look away. Ugh.

By the time the day ended Zack had received his make-up work for all his classes and had come to the conclusion that the teachers had all met in a secret room and dished out insane amounts of chapters to read and questions to answer simply because he wasn't in class for a few days.

"Cody, by the time I finish just the history homework the book will be out of date," he told his brother on the bus as they were heading home. "Look at this!" He pulled a sheet of notebook paper that was nearly covered in assignments. "This is crazy. I have to read like ninety pages to catch up."

"Ah, that's not so bad, Zack."

"Yeah, it kinda is, Cody. I'd rather have my thumb nails pulled out than read one page and I have to read ninety?"

"Just pretend you're on a historical adventure, Zack. You can be FDR and fight the Nazis and Japanese in World War Two or be Alexander the Great and conquer Egypt."

"Cody, that sort of attitude is exactly why you've never had a girlfriend." Cody's face fell into a frown and he turned to look out the window.

"And that sort of remark is why you can't keep one," Cody retorted, his feelings a bit hurt.

"Sorry, bro. I'm just mad. I'm drowning in work and I'm not happy about it. I didn't really mean that."

"Apology accepted," Cody said softly as the bus slowed to a stop a block away from the Tipton.

Zack plopped himself down on the couch when he got home and unloaded all two hundred pounds of books from his pack. "I'm never going to get through all this," he said to his mother as she looked at his assignment sheets.

"You don't have to get it all done in one day, Zack. We'll just work on it a little at a time."

"What's this 'we', Mom? Are you helping?"

"Well, no. I'm just here for moral support."

"What if I pay you?"

"What if you just do the first two chapters of your history before dinner and we'll go from there?"

"There's that 'we' again, Mom."

"Just do your work, Zack." Zack laughed at his mother and popped open his book, wishing he could sink into the cushions and surface again somewhere else where school had been abolished. He sighed, complained, and finally got down to business.

By the time dinner was ready Zack had made marginal headway in his work and was happy to take a break. Zack was so hungry by that point that he inhaled whatever sort of casserole that had been placed in front of him. It wasn't 'good', as Carey's cooking skills have always been questionable, but it was food and his body was demanding calories. Zack cleaned one plate and then another before unsnapping his jeans and relaxing in his chair.

"Comfortable, Your Highness?" Carey asked him with a grin.

"Stuffed," Zack muttered. "I'm not sure what that was but I was starving so it tasted okay."

"Emeril must not have kids," Carey mumbled as she cleared the table, causing Cody to snicker. Zack burped and dinner was officially over.

He stayed up relatively late that night. Zack chatted with Kevin for a few minutes, confirming that they were still on for the next day, before his friend had to get to bed. After that he sat around, idly flipping through his books while watching a horror movie. Naturally the movie won his attention completely and all he'd done in almost two hours were a couple of doodles. A pretty blond girl being stalked and drooled on and finally eaten by a hideous slimy creature was just a billion times more interesting than the causes of the Great Depression.

Zack woke up the following morning sprawled half way on the couch and half way on the floor with his brother and mother buzzing around the room. "Wanna come to the library with me, Zack? It'll be quiet and you can do your homework without any distractions," Cody said to him as he tucked his foot into a shoe.

"No, I think I need all the distractions I can get to make it through this junk, Cody. You go ahead and tell the other members of the dork society that I send my best."

"Libraries aren't dorky, Zack," Cody announced as he tied his laces.

"No, they're not. But kids that spend a Saturday morning in one are."

"Whatever, Zack," Cody said as he stood back up. "Remember you said that when you end up repeating the seventh grade." Zack waved him off and Cody snatched up his coat and slid it over his head.

"Don't spend too much time looking at the topless native chicks in the old National Geographics, Cody," he laughed to his brother as Cody picked up his backpack. Cody rolled his eyes and walked out the door. Zack smirked as the latch clicked.

Zack had shaken most of the sleepiness out of his head by the time his mother came back in the living room. She'd been in and out doing all sorts of little things before disappearing into her room for a few minutes. He was vegging out with some random cartoon when she whisked by.

"Zack, I'm going out to run errands. Grocery, dry cleaner's, a few other places. I'll be gone for a few hours. Anything you need while I'm out?"

"Umm...no, I don't think so. No, wait. Something greasy. With lots of cheese and no rabbit food on it. And some onion rings. And maybe a chocolate shake."

"We'll see," Carey told him as she ruffled his hair. "I don't want you getting sick again so I'll think about it." Zack groaned. That was a no. "Get some work done while I'm gone, okay, kiddo?"

"Sure thing, Mom," Zack told her. "I'll get right on it."

"Do it, Zack. Not all of it, just some of it."

"I will."

"Good. I'll see you later." Carey grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder as she stepped out the door. Zack sank back into lazy-mode and channel surfed during a block of commercials.

"Aah crap!" he yelled a few minutes after she'd gone. "I forgot to ask her about going to see Kevin." Zack glanced at the clock and saw that he had just over two hours before he'd have to leave to meet him on time. "Crap crap crap. I should have asked her last night since she's not going to be back by then." Zack pondered for a few seconds before he decided that she'd probably say yes if he did some of his work so that was that. "I'll do this chapter and that'll be enough for now. I'll do more when I get back." He zipped through his work as quickly as he could and shut his book.

Zack's stomach rumbled and quickly found himself in the kitchen looking for something that sounded good but didn't require him to cook. "Baaah," he said as he closed the refrigerator and opened the freezer. "Man...there's no Hot Pockets, pizza rolls, bread sticks or anything," Zack groaned as he came up empty again. "Cody must have eaten all the good stuff when I was sick."

He left the kitchen and was struck by an idea. There was a little cafe called Momma Rosa's about halfway between the Tipton and the mall so he could stop there and get his fill of the most unhealthy food he could imagine. It also didn't hurt that Momma Rosa thought he was adorable and would often slip him a piece of cherry pie when no one was looking. Zack grinned as he saw her in his mind's eye; her long hair pulled back, laughing, and wearing one of her crazy aprons. Yeah, he was definitely stopping there.

So it was set. Zack hurried off to the shower and cleaned himself up, dressing in warmer clothes than he normally would. It wasn't that long of a walk, maybe a mile in all, and that way he could save the bus fare to spend at the mall. Zack dug around in the shambles that was his side of the room for his white hat, spitting a few curses here and there, before he finally found it and stuck it on his head.

Zack was putting on his coat as he walked toward the door when it dawned on him that he should probably leave a note saying where he was. He turned on his heels and went back into the kitchen and left some chicken scratch on the dry-erase board. _Mom, went to mall to meet a friend. Did some more homework. Be back by dinner time. Love, Zack. _That done, Zack zipped up and stepped out, making sure the door locked behind him.


	3. Day One

Day One, 1:43 pm

Zack stepped out from beneath the Tipton's awning and into the street, pulling his collar up around his neck and his hat a little lower on his head. It wasn't cold, not really, but the wind was rough and cut through him like a machete. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking down to the corner. Zack swung to his right and started down the street that would take him almost directly to Momma Rosa's and an awesome lunch before he made his way to the mall.

It was a quick walk since Zack made it to all but one of the crosswalks just as the signs changed from Don't Walk to Walk. He waited at the last light and his mouth started watering as the smells from the restaurant drifted his way and filled his nose. The building was just across the street and he could almost taste the food. Finally he got the light and bolted across the pavement and threw himself inside.

Momma Rosa's was anything but fine dining but Zack didn't care in the least. As he walked in his eyes drifted to the eclectic mix of decorations that lined the walls and hung from the ceiling and his ears were greeted by the sounds of Sugarland on the radio. Zack sang along as he made his way to the front of the restaurant. "_And if I promise you I'll be back some day, will you set me free so I can fly away..._"

The décor was odd, almost as if an deranged old lady's yard sale had exploded everywhere but Zack thought it looked awesome. On one wall hung a charcoal drawing of Bob Marley inches away from a bottle cap mosaic of Larry Bird and just above a lithograph of the Grand Canyon. He walked up to the counter and took his usual seat two spots over from the cash register. He gave a nod and a quick hello to a man sitting another seat over from him.

"My little Zack!" A rich, motherly voice boomed from somewhere back on the grill line. Zack grinned and craned his neck to see through the narrow stainless steel window and around the white-clad cooks. "Where have you been, my little Zack?" Momma Rosa burst through the double half-doors and her smile lit up the entire restaurant.

"I've been sick, Momma Rosa. Someone gave me the flu."

"I was afraid that you found someone that cooked better than Momma Rosa," she said as she put her elbows on the counter and leaned toward him.

"Yeah right!" Zack laughed, "that'll never happen, Momma Rosa. The only person that cooks for me is my mom and trust me, you have no competition."

Momma Rosa laughed. "She tries though. It's the thought that counts, right? She makes the effort."

"Oh, she tries, that's for sure. She just doesn't have much success."

"You tell her to come by here and I'll teach her." Momma Rosa poured the man beside Zack a refill and slid it down to him. "So what'll it be today, Zack? You've been sick so you must need some real food."

"I was thinking I'd start off with a beer and see where things went from there."

Momma Rosa laughed. "You have your ID today, Zack?" She reached over and pinched his cheek playfully. "I just can't believe that such a baby face is 21."

Zack made a show of checking his pockets. "No, I guess I left it in my other pants, Momma Rosa."

"The usual Dr. Pepper then, yeah?"

"On the rocks."

"Naturally," Momma Rosa told him as she filled a glass with ice, slid it beneath the fountain, and punched the button. Zack grinned to himself as he imagined the machine pouring the drink itself out of awe or fear even if she didn't push the button. Momma Rosa wiped the overflow off the sides and set the glass and a Corona coaster down in front of Zack. A straw magically appeared from nowhere and slid to rest beside the glass. Momma Rosa reached beneath the counter and set a menu in front of Zack. "Not that you need this or anything, sweetie, but it'll give me a good excuse to go outside for a minute," she said as she pulled her cigarettes from her apron pocket. "Be right back." Zack nodded.

"She's quite a character, isn't she?" The man beside Zack said as she left, barking orders at the line cooks as she stepped out the back door.

"Oh man, Momma Rosa is great. My mom, brother, and I found this place a few days after we moved here and we come here all the time."

"You lived here long, Zack? I'm Jerry, by the way." He held his hand out and Zack shook it, trying not to wince at the man's firm grip.

"We've been here for about a year and a half, I guess."

"Oh yeah? You like it here?"

"It's not bad," Zack told him. "My brother and I have to share a room but that's probably the worst part. Everything else is pretty cool."

"Could be worse, I guess," Jerry told him. "He doesn't snore, does he?"

"Thankfully no. He's just a bit of a dork sometimes."

Momma Rosa came back in as Zack was telling Jerry about living in the Tipton. "So, baby boy, aside from Momma Rosa because she is happily married and has shoes older than you, what's looking good today?"

Zack blushed and looked down at the menu for the first time. "Um, I think I'll just go with my usual, Momma Rosa."

"Fries with barbeque sauce as the side?"

"Yes please."

"I thought so." She turned to the window and ducked down. "Hey Mel, I need a Zack burger and fries on the fly. Got a starving boy out here!"

"You have your own burger?" Jerry asked him, his eyebrow raised.

"Well...not officially, but like I said, I come here a lot."

"Okay, kid, I'm curious. What's a Zack burger?"

Zack held his hands out and placed one above the other repeatedly as he listed off the layers. "Bun, mayonnaise, meat, cheese, meat, cheese, bacon, bleu cheese dressing, bun."

"Damn, son. My doctor would put me on a lettuce only diet if he knew I was even listening to someone talk about eating one of those." Zack grinned at him. "Enjoy it while you can, Zack. Once you get old like me you're supposed to eat healthy. Mmm-mmm good!" Jerry pointed to his salad and made a face and Zack laughed out loud.

Momma Rosa walked away to attend to another patron and Jerry put his fork down and looked at Zack. "So Zack, I'm from out of town and have an afternoon to kill. What's good to see when you're in Boston?"

Zack swallowed a mouthful of Dr. Pepper. "Well, first off, you need to see Fenway Park. They're not playing now, of course, since it's winter and all, but that's about as Boston as you can get. Let's see," Zack said as he looked off into space, "there's the Fleet Center where the Celtics play. And, um...Oh! Remember the tv show _Cheers_?" Jerry nodded. "The bar they modeled it off of isn't that far from here."

"Do the Celtics play tonight?"

"Yeah," Zack said, "but they'll probably lose. Detroit's in town."

"Ouch. Count that one as a loss, huh?"

"Yep. That one and most of the rest of their games too. They suck this year."

"You're still wearing their hat though. You must be some fan."

"Once a fan, always a fan," Zack told him with a shrug.

Momma Rosa appeared before them and slid Zack's plate in front of him. "How's that look, honey?"

"Delicious, Momma Rosa." Zack picked the monstrous burger up and took a bite. "Oh yeah," Zack said with a drip of dressing running down his chin and a mouthful of burger, "it tastes as good as it looks."

"Ugh," Jerry said, "I can feel my arteries hardening as I watch that."

Zack swallowed and grinned. "It's so worth it, Jerry."

"I guess," Jerry laughed. The two continued on their random conversations as they ate while Momma Rosa dealt with a sudden influx of customers. Zack rather quickly devoured the monster burger and a good portion of his fries before he pushed his plate away.

"Oh wow. I'm stuffed," he said as he leaned back against his stool and checked his watch.

"You up for some pie, baby boy? Fresh baked cherry. I just took it out of the oven about an hour ago. Maybe a little ice cream on the side?"

"I'd love to, Momma Rosa, but I'll have to take a rain check on the pie. I have to meet a friend at the mall in about twenty minutes. I'll take my bill and maybe a to-go cup if you have one."

Momma Rosa pretended to dig around in her apron and look around the counter. "Can't find your check, Zack," she said. "I guess this one's on me." She grinned her sweet smile at him.

"Momma Rosa--" Zack protested.

"No, nope, no. It's on me. Consider it my get-well present if you like." She slid Zack a plastic cup filled with Dr. Pepper. "Don't be such a stranger now, you here?"

"I promise," Zack told her as he attempted to slide her a few dollars.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, child, but you put that money back in your pocket."

"But, Momma Rosa--"

"No buts, Zack. Spend it on some of those video games you boys like to play."

"Thanks Momma Rosa."

She grinned at him. "Not a problem, baby. You have fun now. Be careful."

"I will, Momma Rosa. See you later." Zack spun around on his stool and hopped down. "Nice meeting you, Jerry."

"You too, Zack. Take care," Jerry told him as he ate the last bite of his salad.

Zack walked out the side door of the cafe and knelt down a few steps away from the curb to tie his shoe. He picked his cup up and was just starting to walk through the parking lot when he heard his name called from behind. Zack spun around and saw Jerry coming out the door.

"Hey Jerry."

"Zack, I hate to ask since I know you're in a hurry, but could you do me a favor and maybe show me where some of those places you were talking about are on a map? I have one in my car but I'm crap at reading them."

"I'm not much better but maybe between the two of us we can figure it out," Zack said as he followed Jerry to a green Chevy.

"I really appreciate this," Jerry said as he unlocked the passenger door and fished out a folded map. He spread it out on the car's roof and looked around the area while Zack tried to figure out where they were on the microscopic streets.

"I'm almost positive that we're right here," Zack said, pointing to a spot on the map. "Now, if you want to get to the Fleet Center and watch the Celtics lose--"

"Hey little Zack," Momma Rosa's voice boomed from a few dozen yards away, "you okay?"

Zack's head popped up and looked over her way. "Sure, Momma Rosa. I'm just showing Jerry how to get to the Fleet Center."

"Okay. I'll see you soon, right? And tell your momma to come see me. It's been too long."

"I will, Momma Rosa. I'll tell her as soon as I get home tonight, I promise." Zack, as well as Jerry, watched her take one last long drag on her cigarette and then flick it out to the pavement. She disappeared back inside with a grandiose wave.

"Now, like I was saying," Zack continued, "you want to get on the freeway and--" Zack suddenly stopped as Jerry stepped behind him. He felt a blunt object push against the small of his back and heard a muffled _click_. "Is that a...?"

"Yes it is," Jerry said. "A very large one. The entry wound is about the size of a quarter and the exit wound is bigger than your Zack burger." Zack stole a glance back and saw Jerry scanning the area again. "Now, my little Zack," he said mockingly, "you have two choices. One, you become as silent as the grave and get in the car right now, or two, you don't live to see your next birthday. How old will you be, Zack?"

"Fu-fu-fourteen," Zack finally stuttered as he dropped his cup on the ground.

"Want to see it?"

"Y-yes."

"Then what's it going to be?"

"I...I'll get in the c-car," Zack said in a voice so soft that it was nearly inaudible.

"Good boy." Jerry took a half step back and opened the door for Zack, letting the soft breeze blow the map off the car and beneath another. The hand he used to open the door quickly latched onto Zack's shoulder and started to guide him into the car.

Every cell in Zack's body was absolutely terrified as he heard the door squeak lightly open. Ever since he'd been a little boy he'd always been told to run, fight, bite, kick, and make as much noise as he possibly could if anyone ever tried to abduct him but when the chips were down he couldn't do it. The cold steel currently lodged just below his kidney and firm hand digging into his shoulder seemed to have completely stolen his voice and froze his muscles solid. His mind screamed at him to run, to simply get the hell away, that Jerry, if that was his real name, wouldn't shoot and draw attention to himself in the middle of the city, but he didn't believe it. _Zack, for the love of all that is holy, run away! _He swallowed hard and felt warmth spread across his crotch as he started to duck down and sit on the seat.

_This is your last chance, Zack. Now or never. If you get in that car your show is over! _His mind threw everything it had at him, dumping every last gram of adrenaline it had stored up, trying to get him to react in any way at all. He looked up at Jerry and saw the glint of steel in his hand and then felt his rear end make contact with the seat. _ZACK! GET AWAY! _He swung his legs in and watched Jerry's eyes until the man shut the door and its tinted glass between them.

He jogged around the back of the car and quickly opened the driver's side door and hopped in. "Buckle up, Zack. It's the law." The man laughed at his poor joke and the irony jabbed Zack in the stomach.

Zack's fingers seemed numb and by the time he'd managed to secure the belt in the latch the car was already in motion and turning onto the busy streets of downtown Boston. He looked over at Jerry and saw the butt of the gun sticking out of the inner pocket of his jacket. Within easy reach. Very easy reach. Zack's breath hitched and he felt his eyes start getting wet.

"Here's the deal, kid. Keep your hands in your lap and your eyes on them. Study them like they are the most fascinating thing you've ever seen, got it?" Zack nodded. "Answer me!"

"Yes s-s-sir." Tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"Good."

Zack was nearly silent for the next few miles, the only sound being the occasional sniffle. "You're r-really not a nice g-guy at all," he finally said as he looked at Jerry from the corner of his eye.

"No, kid. I'm not," Jerry said as he shifted gears and opened the car up on the freeway. Zack watched the speedometer roll over 70 before he closed his eyes.

_From here on out things take a darker turn so this is my official warning. This won't be the happiest of stories so if you're made of sterner stuff, continue. If you're not...this might be far enough for you._


	4. Day One pt2

Day One 2:57 pm

Caey sat the last bag of groceries down on the counter and let out a deep breath, wondering why her kids always seemed to be somewhere else when there were bags stuffed full of food to be brought in. "You're getting old, Carey," she told herself as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Diet Coke, noticing Zack's note as she closed the door. "Gone to the mall, hmm?" she said as she popped the top. "You'd better have done more than one more question, Buster."

Leaving the kitchen and making her way into the living room, Carey sprawled out on the couch and propped her feet up on the table. Carey sighed relaxedly and dug in the cushions for the remote. She'd no sooner found it and flipped the set on when the phone rang. With a grumble she got to her feet and followed the sound of the ringing to the handset, finding it on the fifth ring.

"Hello?" she asked, walking back over to her drink. "Hey Cody."

"Hey Mom. What's for dinner?"

"Love you too, son. I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Sorry, Mom. Love you. What's for dinner?"

"I was thinking I'd make spaghetti and garlic bread."

"Good."

"Why's that good?"

"I was going to ask if Sasha could spend the night but if you were going to make something, um, well, you know, I wasn't going to put him through that."

"It's great to know that my cooking skills have become known around your school, Cody," Carey said with a wry grin.

"I'm sure there's a few sixth graders who don't know yet, Mom. But anyway, can he? We still need to do some work on our project. And besides, you said he could last weekend but Zack was sick. So, can he?"

"Well, I guess so. When are you boys coming home?"

"Probably in an hour or so. We'll swing by his place and pick some stuff up and then we'll be there."

"Sounds like a plan. See you then," Carey said as they hung up. She wandered back to the couch and sat back down, telling herself that the milk wouldn't spoil in the next ten minutes and the frozen hamburger needed to thaw anyway.

The morning she'd spent running all over half the city caught up with her and ten minutes turned to twenty and twenty to thirty. As she indulged in the quiet of the suite a little voice in the back of her head spoke up. _Remember back when every day was like this? Before Kurt and the twins? _"Yeah, I remember," she said aloud, "but I wouldn't change a thing." Carey put her feet on the floor and stood up. "Except for my wedding dress. Yeah, I'd definitely change that." She stretched, clasping her hands over her head, and set off to put the goodies away.

Carey had just stuffed a bag of peanut M&Ms as far back on the highest shelf as she could reach to keep them out of Zack's sight when Cody and his friend came home. "Hey Cody, hey Sasha."

"Hey Mom," Cody said, followed by Sasha's "hello, Ms. Martin." Carey watched as they walked to the couch and plopped down, quickly changing the channel. How typical. She smirked. It was okay, though. Unlike Zack, who seemed to go out of his way to befriend kids that she could barely tolerate and occasionally wanted to choke, Cody always seemed to make friends with the nice ones like Sasha. As she studied them as they unloaded their backpacks, Carey decided that if it weren't for the dark hair and the slight Slavic accent, he was nearly a clone of her son. No wonder they hit it off so well.

"So what's your project on, guys?" She asked as she shut the cabinets.

"The effects of capitalism on the former Soviet Baltic republics after communism collapsed," they both answered nearly in unison.

"The effects of what on who?"

"The way that a free-market economy has changed the Baltic states and if those changes are good or bad," Sasha told her.

"Oh. That's...great." Cody shot his friend a glance that seemed to say _my mom is kinda slow but very nice _and Sasha smiled back at him. "I remember back when I was in the eighth grade. We—don't you make any dinosaur jokes, bub! We were still writing essays on what we did over our summer vacations."

"In hieroglyphics on clay tablets," Cody snickered and both boys broke into laughter.

"Hush, you!" She chided. "Well, since I'm going to be about zero help for you two, I'm going to fold laundry now."

"Have fun, Mom," Cody told her, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, Cody, I will. I'll bring your laundry basket out here and you and your friend can watch as I fold your cute little rocket ship underpants."

"Mom...jeez!" Cody moaned while Sasha laughed.

"I'm only kidding, Sasha. He doesn't have those. Anymore. He outgrew them and my little man has moved on to Blue's Clues now." She stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Mom. Seriously."

"Hey, you can make old jokes and I can't make young jokes? Not fair."

"Touché, Mom, touché." Carey ruffled his hair as she left the room.

"You know, your mom is pretty cool, Cody. Weird, but cool."

"Don't let her hear you say that or who knows what might happen." They popped their books and scattered assorted print outs across the coffee table and got down to work.

A while later Carey had finished the laundry and was getting ready to start dinner when she looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly five and there was still no sign of Zack. While this wasn't a huge surprise since Zack was anything but punctual, it was still irritating for her. Carey filled a pot with water and set it on the stove, deciding that if Zack wasn't home by the time everything was ready, well, he could just eat it cold. Wouldn't be the first time and most likely wouldn't be the last.

Another half hour had passed and Carey was taking the bread out of the oven. "Come on, boys. We're going to go on and eat and Zack can catch up whenever he decides to come home." Less than three minutes later both boys had washed up and were sitting at the table as Carey brought the steaming pot and plate of garlic bread. "Dig in," she told them as she tossed her oven mitt on the counter.

"Zack didn't happen to tell you who he was hanging out with today, did he, Cody?" Carey asked as they were nearly through with the meal.

"Nope," he replied, pulling his napkin from his lap and wiping spaghetti sauce from his cheek. "All he told me was that he wasn't going anywhere near a library."

"Well, I guess it's about time to start calling around and seeing where he is," she said as she got up and went for the phone.

"Zack in trouble?" Sasha asked Cody while Carey dialing.

"Oh yeah. He's over an hour late and hasn't called."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, he'll be grounded at least a week over this," Cody said as he ate the last of his bread. "He probably lost track of time doing something stupid."

"That boy needs a watch or something."

"I got him one for his birthday but he lost it," Cody mumbled.

"Not surprised," Sasha opined.

The boys finished up while Carey sat on the couch going through nearly every single number in the speed dial, the veins in her forehead popping out more and more after each unsuccessful call. "I am going to ground your brother until disco comes back," she said in Cody's direction as she tossed the phone aside. "I've called everyone I can think of and no one's seen him."

"Maybe he's still at the mall?" Cody ventured.

"He'd better not be but he probably is."

"Are we going on a little road trip, Mom?"

"Yep. Grab your coats, fellas. And help me find my car keys." A few minutes later the three of them were stepping out of the elevator and heading for the parking garage. Carey was walking swiftly with the boys hanging a few steps behind her and catching occasional whispers about Zack's impending doom.

Even in the early evening traffic it didn't take more than five minutes to get to the mall. Normally the place would be packed and they'd have to park in a spot that seemed closer to Brooklyn than the doors but today the mall looked rather empty. Carey swung her car into a parking place only a few spots away from the handicapped spaces.

"Okay, here's the deal. You two check the arcade and all the places he might be at that end of the mall and I'll check the other end. We'll meet back here in twenty minutes." Two nodding heads answered her and they split up.

"She's pretty pissed, huh?" Sasha asked Cody as they weaved through the maze of people.

"Oh yeah. Since we had to come find him he'll be lucky if he's not grounded for a month now."

"You'd think he'd learn," Sasha said as he scanned the throng.

"Yeah, you would, wouldn't you?" Cody answered sarcastically as he peeked inside a store.

Carey's first stop was the food court and she immediately made rounds on all the places that Zack liked to frequent. Her son was memorable and if he'd been there today someone would know. She had no luck at Sbarro or Subway or Wendy's and by the time she'd checked the Chinese place and Taco Bell her heart was beating faster. Carey even went over to the small smoothie stand even though she knew Zack wouldn't stoop to consuming anything that might possibly be healthy if he wasn't forced. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I haven't seen him" was the response she received each time.

After she tried a few possible stores she decided to go right to the source and head for the mall's security office. If anyone would know they would since Zack had taken rather fondly to one of the young woman officers, Diane, and talked to her every chance he got.

"Excuse me, Diane?" Carey said as she poked her head through the window.

"Hey Carey, what can I do for you?" Zack's supposed future wife replied.

"I was wondering if you'd seen Zack anywhere around here today."

"No, can't say I have but I've only been here since four. Let me get some of the others on the radio and see if they've seen him." She picked a small walkie talkie. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Control. Any of you seen Romeo today?" She looked over at Carey and saw her grin at the nickname for her son. As each call came back negative Carey's feeling of unease grew.

"Sorry, Carey. If he's been here he's been keeping low."

"And that's not Zack at all. Thanks for your time, Diane."

"Any time," she replied as Carey started walking away. She began making her way back to her meeting spot to wait for the boys.

"Hey, Mr. Winston," Cody said to the man watching over the machines in the arcade. He was sitting on his desk and smiled as Cody and Sasha approached.

"Well hello, boys. Here to lay the beatdown on some zombies?"

"No, not today, Mr. Winston. We're looking for my brother. You haven't happened to see him in here, have you? Sometime this afternoon?"

"Hmm...no, I haven't seen him, Cody."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." He gave the man a wave and he and Sasha started to leave.

"Everything okay, Cody?"

"Yeah, at least it is until Mom finds him."

"Well, if I happen to see him I'll tell him to get his rear-end home pronto."

"Thanks, Mr. Winston." The boys turned again and left the pulsing lights and unearthly noises of the arcade and stepped back out into the stream of foot traffic. They'd covered their end of the mall and had no luck and were heading back to meet up with Carey.

"Think maybe we should check the book store, Cody?" Sasha said to his friend as they walked past a fountain. "It's about the only spot we haven't checked down this way."

Cody laughed. "I think we can safely skip that store. If he won't go into a library where you can take books home for free, I'm positive he won't go into a place where you have to buy them."

"Good point." Sasha fell quiet for a few seconds as they walked. "You know, he's probably home now, wondering where we are."

"Yeah, he probably is. Sitting on the couch, blissfully ignorant about how we've been searching the mall for---" Cody trailed off and stopped in the middle of the aisle. Sasha followed suit a step later and looked back.

"Cody? Cody?" He waved a hand in front of Cody's face when he saw the distant look in his friend's eyes. "What's wrong, Cody?"

Cody snapped out of his short trance. "I think Zack's in trouble," he said. "Bad trouble."


	5. Day One pt3

"I really need to use the bathroom," Zack said again. He'd mentioned his pressing need to the man behind the wheel for the last twenty minutes and had been ignored every time. Zack's tears had finally dried up about an hour ago after he'd sobbed on and off since Boston passed out of view nearly four hours previous. He'd drifted off into some sort of fog, some place that wasn't the here and now, and only returned when his bladder demanded attention.

"I heard you the first time, kid," Jerry snapped, smoke billowing out of his mouth. "I'm not pulling over on the side of the highway." Zack bit his tongue when he felt himself about to inform Jerry that he'd passed six exits since he'd first been told. It wouldn't do to anger him, Zack knew. He watched as the man opened the window and flicked the butt of his cigarette out into the slipstream.

Jerry finally downshifted and pulled off the interstate and drove around for a few minutes before finally coming to a rest on a deserted side road that dead-ended against a large field. "Here we are," he said as he unbuckled and opened his door. "Get out," he said to Zack as he hesitated. "This is your only rest stop, buddy boy, so you'd better take advantage of it."

Zack got out and stretched his legs before taking a few steps away from the car. He turned his back on the man and started fumbling with his pants. Jerry leaned against the hood of the car and lit another cigarette, standing with the lit fuse dangling from one hand while the other was stuffed in his jacket pocket. Zack looked back over his shoulder before letting his gaze work across the field. It looked a few dozen yards across, fifty at the most, probably closer to forty, before it abruptly ended in a thick stand of trees.

"C'mon, kid. I don't have all day." Zack swallowed but try as he might nothing would come out.

"I can't go with you watching me," Zack told him.

"Aww, isn't that cute? This one's got a shy bladder." He took a draw before continuing. "You've got ten steps and thirty seconds, kid. If you can't make it happen by then you'd better cross your legs and hope we don't hit much traffic." Zack took the ten paces and somehow managed to make things work. His mind recalculated the distance across the field to the trees. Eight seconds, maybe ten, and he'd be across it.

Zack zipped up as his mind began to get him ready. Now or never. He'd blown his best chance back in that parking lot and this might be the last one he'd ever get. Zack gave one more quick glance back over his shoulder at Jerry and saw the man was looking back toward the highway. He felt like someone had jabbed him with a live wire. Every nerve ending in his body seemed to be on fire. _Go_! Zack's legs sprung into action and he'd covered a half dozen steps before Jerry had turned back around.

"Okay kid, time's up," he said as he turned back around and saw Zack sprinting across the grass. "Why you little mother--". He flicked his smoke away and reached into his jacket's pocket, pondering for a split second on pulling the gun and ending things right now before deciding to chase Zack down.

Everything seemed much further away now that Zack was running for his life. It was a horror movie come to life and he was the star, only there'd be no _cut! c_alled from the director's chair if something went wrong. The trees looked as if they were moving away from him even as he pumped his legs for all they were worth. "Gogogogogogo!" his mind screamed as he pistoned his arms. He could feel a stitch beginning to burn its way through his stomach and race up his side but he couldn't stop. A smile was just starting to form on his face as he allowed himself to believe that he was going to make it but it quickly turned to a grimace of pain as he was tackled from behind and skidded face-first into the dirt nearly within spitting distance of the trees.

"Oh that was a mistake," Jerry said as he pushed himself up off the grass, planting a large foot on the back of Zack's neck as he stood over the boy. "A big mistake." Zack groaned as every spot in his body began to ache. There was a rock lodged somewhere under his hip. "Played linebacker in junior college, kid. Ran a four-five forty. Want to try that again?" Zack was silent. "Didn't think so. Now get up." Jerry reached down and grabbed Zack by the scruff of his neck and hauled him to his feet, tossing him against the car.

"Listen close, kid, because I'm only going to say this once. If you try anything stupid like that again, I'm not going to chase you. Not going to happen. I'm going to shoot you. Know what I'll do then? I'll get back in my car and drive off while you lay bleeding to death in some frozen field. You won't be the first, kid. Believe that." Jerry paused in his monologue and lit another cigarette, the _click-hiss _of the lighter seeming much louder than usual in the tension filled silence.

"I don't know what mommy and daddy might have told growing up but you're not special, kid. You're not unique. You're replaceable. That's what you are. There's thousands of other stupid kids out there just waiting to be plucked." He inhaled and blew smoke into into the air. "You think it's hard? Hell no. I had you the second you took one step toward my car." Tears started rolling down Zack's cheeks. These weren't the same as before, no, those were nothing compared to these. Those were a drizzle while these were a downpour.

"So before you decide to get all Carl Lewis on me again, remember this. You aren't the first, you won't be the last, and you are very replaceable. Understood?" Zack nodded, his eyes not leaving the ground. "Answer me. You got it?"

"Yes..sir," Zack croaked out between sobs. Zack, head still down, never saw the blow coming. Jerry had raised an arm and delivered a backhanded shot that sent him sprawling to the ground. "And that was for making me chase you."

Zack's head was spinning and he felt nauseous as he opened his eyes and looked up at the grey sky. He rolled onto his side and felt a trickle of warm blood crawl across his cheek. He wiped at his nose and rubbed the blood off in the cold grass.

"Now get in the damn car. I have some pills you're going to take so I can drive the rest of the way in peace. And I almost hope you refuse to take them." Zack slowly got to his hands and knees and then to his feet, looking into the man's eyes and finding nothing but malice. Jerry opened the door and ushered Zack in, not taking his eyes off the boy until he was situated on the seat. He closed the door with a terrible grin and started walking around the front of the car.

Zack took the pills and dry-swallowed them even though he knew better. He was too tired and hurt too much to fight anymore so he downed them with a grimace. He looked out the window so Jerry wouldn't see him cry and tried to remember the good times he'd had, keeping his mind busy by picking the best of each year; the moments and times he was the most proud of or made him the happiest.

Last year he was thirteen and was wondering if he was going to pass the seventh grade or if he was going to have to repeat it. It was close. Zack remembered having his teachers sit him down and explain to him exactly how deep in a hole he was and he distinctly remembered Mrs. Price telling him that if he didn't fix his wagon (and when was that saying in style? The Twenties?) in the next nine weeks she'd see him again the following year and neither of them wanted that, did they? So Zack remembered buckling down and actually doing homework and actually opening his books for the remainder of school. He remembered sitting in the hotel's lobby each day after school was out, waiting for the mail to come to find out if he'd made up enough ground or not. Then the fateful day came and Zack remembered ripping their mail out of Moseby's hands and tossing everything but his grades to the floor. His hands were shaking so it took him forever to open the letter. He remembered how he yelled "I passed!" as loud as he could and ran through the lobby, pumping his fist as the elevator door closed on him.

He was twelve, still lived in Iowa, and was playing in the championship game of their little winter rec-league basketball tournament. Zack remembered them battling back from fifteen down at the half to force overtime. He remembered his stomach doing backflips and cartwheels and feeling like he was going to puke as he stood at the free throw line down by one with only a handful of seconds remaining in the game. Zack remembered coolly hitting the first free throw and then feeling his heart stop as his second shot bounced around the rim for days before finally falling through for a one point lead. He remembered trying to yell over the roar of his half of the crowd, to tell his teammates to get back on defense, telling himself that he wasn't going to lose to a team called the Blue Jays since that was a stupid name for a basketball team. He remembered the Jays bringing the ball down the court and taking a quick shot and felt his hands snatch the rebound over another boy dressed in blue. Zack vaguely remembered throwing the ball skyward but definitely remembered watching the game clock slowly tick down to triple-zeros. He remembered the rest of his team, even Cody in his walking cast, rushing the court and mobbing him and the other four players.

He was eleven and they were on their last real vacation. It was high summer and the boys and Carey were relaxing a stressful year away on the sands of Panama City Beach. Zack remembered he and Cody zipping up and down the beach, chasing each other like fools and trying to knock the other into the surf. They'd built huge sandcastles and watched as the tide crept up the beach and washed them away. One night they'd stayed up way past their bedtime to see a band perform live at one of the beach bars. Zack remembered rocking out to old punk rock and Bon Jovi covers and dancing with his mom to _Living on a Prayer_ while Cody totally and utterly slaughtered the lyrics. He remembered taking the sunscreen and writing _dork_ on his brother's back while Cody napped on his stomach in the lounge chair. He also remembered how karma was all about paybacks when the next day the backs of his legs and thighs got terribly burned as he lounged on a raft in the hotel's pool and he couldn't sit down without wincing for the next two days.

He remembered Christmas when he was ten and wasn't expecting much and...his mind finally submitted to the pills and Zack fell into a deep sleep, elbow on the door frame and hand against the side of his head...


	6. Day One pt4

Carey was waiting anxiously for Cody and his friend to meet back up with her. Unease was slowing growing in her belly and sitting idly by only added fuel to its fire. She finally caught a glimpse of the boys and hoped against hope that there was a second blond head hidden between the two of them and the other shoppers. If there was she could release the breath she'd been holding for what seemed like an hour and just go home and ground Zack until his grandchildren graduated college. If there wasn't, well, she refused to think about that at the moment.

Carey stood on her tip-toes, craning her neck, and swallowed a frown when she saw the two boys weave between a gaggle of old, blue-haired women and Zack wasn't with them. He was probably just getting home after hanging out with a friend for the afternoon, she tried to tell herself, having already decided it would be his last afternoon of freedom until somewhere around 2049. Cody, spotting her near the exit, started sprinting. Sasha, momentarily surprised at his friend's sudden dash, picked his pace up as well and arrived a few seconds later.

"Mom!" Cody said as he came up to her, bending over and putting his hands on his knees to get his breath back. "I think Zack's in trouble," he labored between deep breaths. Sasha put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What are you talking about, Cody?" Carey took one last fruitless look back the way they'd come.

"I don't know how I know it but he's in trouble, Mom."

"We were walking down the corridor when he kind of drifted away for a few seconds, Mrs. Martin. He stopped in his tracks and had this weird million-mile stare going on." Sasha told her as Cody nodded along.

"He's not in trouble yet, Cody," Carey told him, trying to diffuse both her own fear and her son's. "But he will be when we get home and find him sitting in front of the television."

"No, Mom. I...could just feel it. I don't know any other way to describe it. Zack is hurt and he's in trouble."

"I'm sure that's just your own worry you were feeling, Cody," she said, lying through her teeth. Her own sixth sense had been tingling for the last few hours, the protective mother bear instinct that growled at her to protect her cubs, and hearing Cody echo her own thoughts disturbed her more than she could allow herself to let on. She believed him. She'd seen enough of their odd twin-link over the years to honestly discount it. She downplayed it, knowing it wouldn't do to alarm her son or his friend any more than they already might be. Once the panic-genie was loosed from its bottle there was no putting it back in.

They began making their way out to the car in silence. "Maybe you're right, Mom," Cody said as the automatic door opened for them. "I'm just worried about him." Carey listened to his voice and knew that neither of them believed it for a second. They got in the car and left the mall's parking lot, the only noise coming from inside the car was the low murmur of Matchbox20 on the car's radio. Adult Contemporary. Rock For 'Old' People.

They were halfway home when Carey noticed the neons. _Momma Rosa's Café _said the block letters of the first line. _best home cookin' in the city!_ proclaimed the second in cursive. Carey quickly glanced in the rear view mirror and dashed across two lanes of traffic before slamming on the brakes and slaloming the car around the corner. "Jeez, Mom," Cody groaned as he and Sasha pulled themselves apart after the twelve-g turn, "practicing for NASCAR?"

"No, I just want to check here before we go home," she said as they pulled into a spot a few paces away from the door of Momma Rosa's. The mother bear feeling in her had _ROARED_ as she came upon the building and she followed her instinct. Carey's pulse quickened as she pulled her keys out of the ignition and got out of the car, the boys quickly following suit.

"Carey! Cody! And a boy I don't know! Another of yours, Carey?" Momma Rosa grinned as the three of them walked to the counter.

"No, Momma Rosa, this is my friend Sasha."

"Pleased to meet you, Sasha," she said and Sasha smiled shyly. Momma Rosa turned her attention back to Carey. "I'm surprised to see you so soon."

"Huh?" Carey's eyebrow raised in surprise.

"Zack and I had a little talk today about you. Where is the little rascal anyway? I wouldn't expect him to miss out on this."

"That's kind of why I'm here, Momma Rosa. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Sure I do." She turned around and peered through the window back into the cavernous kitchen. "Saul, come mind the counter for a few minutes." A grumble of "Mom, I'm busy" came back. "You are not. You have no tickets and haven't had any in half an hour. Put down your magazine and get up here or I will pull you through this window," Momma Rosa replied and a few seconds later her chagrined, apron-clad son appeared. Momma Rosa led them to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. Cody hid a smile as he imagined Momma Rosa pulling him through the window.

"So what can we talk about, Carey?" Momma Rosa asked as she settled down on the well-worn cushions.

"You said Zack was here today, right?"

"Yes he was. Poor thing looked half-starved when he came in. We got to talking and he promised to get you in here so I can teach you to how to cook for a growing boy." Momma Rosa was still wearing her trademarked smile.

"Do you remember what time he was here, Momma Rosa?"

"He came in, oh, a little before two, I'd..." She stopped in mid-thought and read Carey's expression. "Carey, what's wrong? Something happen to Zack?"

"He hasn't come home yet."

"Oh Carey...He told me he was going to the mall to meet up with a friend of his."

"As far as we can tell he never made it to the mall, Momma Rosa. Anything you can tell me might be important."

"Oh Lord," Momma Rosa said as she leaned against the back rest. She reached a hand into her apron and pulled out her pack of smokes and, giving the city of Boston's non-smoking ordinance a metaphorical middle finger, lit up. "Carey, he came in about two, smiling and singing, and ordered his usual. He chatted with me and this man at the counter and..." She abruptly cut off.

"And what, Momma Rosa?"

"Oh Carey, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"The man was really sweet, Carey. He'd been in for about ten, maybe fifteen, minutes before Zack showed up. We talked and laughed while he picked at his salad. Oh how stupid could I have been?"

"I don't understand, Momma Rosa. Please go on."

Momma Rosa took a long draw before she said anything else, speaking only after she'd blown the smoke out of her nose and ashed on the floor beneath the table. "The man started talking to Zack, asking him about what there was to do in the city for a guy with an afternoon to kill. Zack told him a few things and they kept up their conversation while they ate." She took another puff. "I got a little busy so I missed most of their talk but they got on real nice. He was smooth, Carey. Smooth as a snake's belly.

"So Zack finishes up and I clear his plate away and he heads off, saying he had to meet someone at the mall. The man finished up and left shortly after Zack did. I went out to get cancer," she nodded at her cigarette, "a minute or so later and saw the two of them looking at a map on the man's car. Carey, I'm so sorry. I never thought anything about it. He seemed like your average guy."

Carey sat, silent and impassive, letting her mind whirl. "Can you show me where they were, Momma Rosa? Where the car was?" She nodded and got up quickly for a woman of her size. They stood outside the door and Momma Rosa pointed over to a spot near the fence.

"They were right there, Carey. I was right over there." She gestured to the small receiving dock next to a Dumpster twenty or so feet away from where they now stood. "I don't know what to say, Carey."

"Don't say anything yet, Momma Rosa. We don't know what happened. If anything even did." Her mind began to spin even as she said that. Something _did _happen. She was as sure of that as anything ever before in her life.

Cody took a few steps towards the parking lot as a flutter of paper caught his attention in the fading light. His eyes widened as he got close enough to realize what it was. "No..." he whispered as he bent down and picked the partially folded paper up. "No..."

"What'd you find, honey?" Carey called to him. Her son didn't answer and Sasha walked over to Cody's side and looked at his discovery.

"It's a map, Mrs. Martin. A map of Boston."

"Oh, well, people drop things out of their cars all the time," Carey said. "I dropped the bananas earlier today and wouldn't have noticed if I didn't kick them halfway across the parking garage." Her mind was yelling _no! _and trying one last-ditch effort to banish what could only be the truth. Not her son. Not her Zack. "The man just forgot his map when he left."

"Did Zack take a drink with him when he left today, Momma Rosa?" Cody asked, his voice shaking and his eyes a few feet away, locked on a white object partially buried in the leaves against the fence.

"He did, Cody. Why?" Both Momma Rosa and Carey started walking over in their direction.

"Then this is his," Cody said after he picked it up and examined it for a split second, swirling the remaining liquid around against the cup's wall..

"How do you know that, Cody?" Sasha asked. It looked like a normal cup as far as he could tell.

"Because of this." Cody pivoted the cup in his hand and showed his friend and the women the _Z_ thumbnail-scratched on the soft plastic lid. "He always does that." Cody traced his finger along the scratch. Right, down-and-left, right. Just like Zorro. He looked up in his mother's face.

Carey looked at the cup and as much as she tried to disbelieve its existence and deny all the evidence, she couldn't any longer. "Momma Rosa," she said blankly, "I think I need to use your phone."


	7. Day One pt5

Kurt was sitting in the first row of seats, legs propped on the railing in front of him and his gaze was slowly taking in everything around the arena. There was somewhere around twenty thousand seats here and he couldn't believe that twenty thousand people were going to come to see him play no matter how hard he tried to wrap his mind around it. Everything had happened so fast. It was faster than the blink of an eye. He'd spent nearly ten years playing in the little grungy bars, going through bandmembers quicker than bottles of tequila during some stretchesand now this. Big Time. Now they were the main draw. From the opener to the main act. Beer nuts to filet mignon. In maybe three months' time.

Talk about blowing up. A chance meeting with a record exec during a show in Buffalo and look where they were now. It was crazy. The man had just stopped by the bar for a cold beer after a day at work during the middle of their set and that was it. The past was the past and now they were big time. No more scratching out a living.

Kurt looked around the arena again, still not able to believe that in a few hours it would be packed to the rafters with fans coming to see _them_. His eyes danced from the small dais with the control board on it a few yards away from him to the stage and then up to the scores of lights that hung from the ceiling. He opened his bottle of water and took a long drink. Were those nerves creeping in now? Kurt smiled as he screwed the lid back on. Better not be. The time for nerves had passed.

"Check. Check. One two. Check one two." Kurt's attention was drawn to the stage were some of his roadies had started their sound checks. He watched and listened as his men put the equipment through its paces. Some of them weren't much older than his own kids and were probably more talented than he was. He stretched and stood up. It was about time to head on back to the dressing room and get ready, he figured. The doors would be opening soon and he didn't want to be sitting around down here when everyone started filing in.

"Kurt! Where have you been?" He had made it about half way back to their green room through the honeycomb of tunnels and passages when their manager came running down the hall at him.

"Hey Sandy. I was sitting around, thinking about stuff. Trying to clear my head before the show."

"I've been looking for you for about the last half hour, Kurt. Your wife called and you need to call her like yesterday." She looked every bit the no-nonsense girl at that moment.

"Any idea as to what she wanted, Sandy?" Probably wanted to wish him luck for the first show, he thought.

"I don't know, Kurt. She sounded pretty upset, though. It was hard to make out everything she was saying." Kurt frowned as Sandy tossed him his cell phone. "If you'd have kept this with you I wouldn't have spent all that time tracking you down, you know."

"Thanks. I just needed some time to get myself ready, you know? This is _it! _This is what I've been waiting for." _And what got me divorced, _he thought wryly. After she nodded and gave him an eye roll he continued on towards their room as he tried to figure out how to make the phone work. While he punched buttons he wondered what it would take to get Carey, normally the most unflappable woman he'd ever met, to get that worked up. He'd taken three steps when it hit him. The boys. It had to be something with the boys. He stopped in the middle of the hall and punched in their number.

Carey was standing next to the kitchen counter when the phone rang. There were police officers, both uniformed and plain-clothed, all over her apartment and she was doing her best to stay out of their way. Before she could even make a move toward the phone half of the officers raced to activate the recording and tracing equipment. She picked the handset up and waited until she got the 'ok' signal before she hit _talk. _

"Hello?"

"Carey? It's Kurt. What's going on?" Kurt's voice said through both the speaker sitting on the table and her ear.

"I..I tried to call you earlier, Kurt," she said with a wavering voice.

"I was sitting in the arena. Trying to get myself ready for the show, I guess. Now tell me what's going on. Sandy said you sounded upset." He didn't like the tone in her voice.

"Kurt...Something's..." she paused for a few breaths to try to collect herself. "Something's happened to Zack."

Kurt leaned against the wall. "Calm down, Carey. What happened to Zack?" He squeezed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Knowing Zack, it could be one of no less than a billion things.

"He's missing."

"He's what? Missing?"

Carey's voice was breaking as she tried to keep herself together. "He's missing. He went to the mall to meet a friend and never made it."

"Have you called the police, Carey?"

"Of course I've called the police!" she yelled. "There's...I don't know, a bunch of them here right now asking questions and taking statements."

"Of course you called the police. Sorry. Of course you did. That was a stupid thing to say. I'll be there as soon as I can, Carey. As soon as I can get to the airport and get them to get the jet ready."

They spoke a few more minutes, mostly him trying to calm her down and get as many details as he could between outbursts, and they ended their call as Kurt walked into the green room. The rest of the band were laying around the room, sprawled out on the various couches and chairs, talking and eating and drinking. He walked in and headed straight for his suitcase and started tossing clothes into a duffel bag.

"Hey, Kurt, whatcha' doin'?" One of his bandmates called to him with a mouthful of bologna sandwich. "Kurt?" He asked again when Kurt didn't respond.

"I have to go," he said as he looked around for his jacket.

"What do you mean you have to go? We play in less than two hours. Remember? Opening show on the tour and all that? Our big break?"

"What do you have to do that's so important?" Another member of the band asked. "What's bigger than this?"

Kurt stopped what he was doing and counted to five. He forced himself to calm down before he turned around since he didn't have the right to take anything out on the guys. "I have to go to Boston. Now."

"Boston? Boston? We're playing in Detroit tonight, Kurt. What's so important in Boston that you're going to skip out on our biggest show yet? _Fuck_ Boston."

Kurt had turned and was across the room before the guy could take another breath. "My family is in Boston and one of my boys is missing and..." Kurt found his hands entwined in his drummer's shirt collar and he made himself let go. "Sorry." He smoothed the wrinkles away. "So fuck the show, I'm going home."

There wasn't much sound in the room as Kurt slid his jacket on and slung the bag over his shoulder. The four guys watched as he zipped up and walked to the door.

"What are we supposed to tell everyone?" A voice spoke up as he reached the door.

"Tell them I have a family emergency. Tell them to reschedule. Tell them that the Queen of England called and I have to save the world. I don't care. I have to go." Kurt let the door swing shut and hurried along before anyone else could stop him. Voices rose from behind the door as the others began to debate but he ignored them. Kurt adjusted the bag's strap more comfortably on his shoulder and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

One of the biggest perks of being signed to a major label, as far as Kurt was concerned, was the fact that they had a private jet sitting at the airport. No more trucking along from gig to gig in a rusty old van. By the time Kurt was in a cab on his way to Detroit-Metro the plane was waiting for him. Celebrity had its advantages. Not all that many, but definitely a few. He looked out the window as the buildings and cars passed, wanting to be back in Boston already. He'd trade all the perks to be back home with his ex and two boys, though. In a heartbeat.

By the time the plane finally landed Kurt couldn't get out and down the stairs fast enough. He went through the terminal as fast as he could push his way through the crowds, thankful that he only had the bag over his shoulder and didn't have to wait an eternity in the baggage claim. He made haste for the line of cabs that always sits outside of each and every airport and opened the back door of the first in line.

"Where to, mister?" The cab driver asked as Kurt tossed his bag in and shut the door.

" The Tipton Hotel. And there's twenty dollars in it for you if you can do it in under twenty minutes."

"In a hurry, mister?"

"Very."

"Then buckle up and get that money ready because I'll get us there in fifteen," the man told him as he shifted into drive and pulled away from the curb.

"Fifteen'll get you thirty," Kurt said as he settled back against the pockmarked fabric. Normally that little joke would have brought a smile to his face but this was not the time and he regretted he's said it that way.

"Sold." Kurt saw the man's eyes in the mirror for a split second before he felt the car accelerate and pull out into traffic.

_Sorry it's been so long but I've been stupid busy for about the last month or so. Hopefully things are going to settle down now and I can actually write again._


	8. Day One pt6

"Ouch!" Marion Moseby hissed as the steam from his microwaved dinner scalded his hand. Wincing, he set the plate of lasagna down and shook his fingers. He turned the tap on and stuck his fingers under the cold water until the burning went away. Satisfied, he dried his hand and looked it over. Not too bad, just a little red, he noted. He picked the plate back up and walked into the living room.

Moseby sat down on the cushy sofa and relaxed, one leg crossed over the other at the knee, as he surfed through the television channels. He passed ESPN quickly and was heading toward the movie channels, looking for one of his favorite classics, when something caught his eye. He backed down a channel and saw a smiling face he'd seen a thousand times before, both while awake and in his dreams, frozen in a corner of the screen while a woman spoke into the camera. Moseby leaned forward and set the plate on the highly polished coffee table as he increased the volume. "What?"

_Breaking News, _the ticker read as it scrolled by the bottom of the screen. _Amber Alert Issued _quickly followed. He finally paid attention to the anchor's words. "An Amber Alert has been issued," the woman said. "Zachary James Martin, 14, of Boston..." Marion's eyes widened as he heard the rest of the announcement. This wasn't possible. "He was last seen..." Moseby's eyes widened in shock.

As the message repeated across the bottom of the screen and the anchor changed topics Moseby got to his feet. He tossed his housecoat across the back of the couch and pulled a jacket from the hanger on the back of the door. After looking around for his keys for a few seconds and slipping shoes on his feet he was gone, dinner long forgotten as he hastily made his way to the stairwell.

He started his car and backed out of his space while he dug in his pocket for his cell. It rang just as he pulled it out, _Ode to Joy_ splitting his ears before he could take the call. "Yes sir. Yes. I understand. Yes sir. I'll tell her, sir." The call was short and to the point but that was Mr. Tipton's style. The man didn't stand on ceremony. He flipped the phone closed and slipped it into one of his jacket's pockets as he accelerated down the parking garage's ramp and out into traffic. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he settled into the bog that was downtown Boston.

Carey watched as the officers questioned her son. No, that wasn't what they were doing. He was being interrogated. Grilled. It was like watching some old black and white movie where the two cops had the suspect at the table and all that was missing was the bright light and the handcuffs and one of them saying 'where were you on the night of the twelfth?'. Carey felt her eyebrows knit together. She'd held her composure rather well, all things considered. She thought she did a marvelous job of not falling to pieces while talking to Kurt however long ago it was but her emotions were like a rain-swollen river pushing at its banks. She took a sip from her coffee mug and looked over at their small dinette table. Cody was sitting with two of the officers as they asked him question after question. She bit her tongue when she felt something vile starting to form on her lips but after seeing the look of anguish on her son's face she snapped.

"You two leave him the hell alone," she shouted as she slammed the mug on the counter. "Get away from him."

"Ma'am?" One of the officers, Officer Brantley if she remembered correctly, looked over at her with a very confused look on his face.

"You've asked him the same questions three times now."

"We're just following procedure, ma'am," he assured her.

"No. You're treating my son like he's involved in this. He's told you everything he knows."

The other officer, Officer Adams, raised a hand as if to calm her down. "Mrs. Martin, please."

"No. You shut up." She leveled a finger at him and he fell silent. " You're treating him like he's involved in this. Do you really think he'd keep anything that could help get his brother home a secret from you?"

"We're just following procedure, ma'am. Any information that we—"

"You and your procedures can go to hell." She crossed the short distance to Cody and pulled him from his chair. "Cody, why don't you go in your room for a little while?" Sasha, who'd been silent as he sat on the couch and watched the goings on for the last while, stood up and reached for Cody's arm.

"Come on, Cody, let's go," he said softly. Cody shifted his coma-like gaze around the room and let his friend take him away. Sasha's arm slipped over Cody's shoulders as he guided him across the room. Carey watched them walk away until the officer's voice brought her attention back.

"Mrs. Martin, let me reassure you that we meant no harm to your son. We just need every bit of evidence we can get."

Carey wheeled back around on the two. "He's been through enough, don't you think? Did he tell you anything different each time you asked him the questions? He wasn't even here for crying out loud. Or there. Wherever." She put a hand to her face and fought back the tears.

"Mrs. Martin, it's been a very stressful day and the last thing we want to do is make it worse for you and your family. We're just trying to find every last scrap of information we can so we can get your boy home that much faster."

"Is there something we can get you, Mrs. Martin?" the other officer asked. The answer that she nearly gave them hung in the air. _My boy._

"Yeah, a big margarita. Hold the mix," she finally said softly. The officers, having no tequila, fell silent and went back to comparing their notes.

Sasha led him into the bedroom and over to his bed where they sat down. "Why'd it have to happen, Sasha?" Cody asked after a few minutes. His hands were in his lap and his head was down.

Sasha didn't answer right away. "I don't know, Cody. I really don't know." Cody sighed and leaned into Sasha's body. Sasha put his arm back around his friend's shoulders. Cody took another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"It's not fair," he said weakly. "Zack never did anything to deserve this."

Sasha opened his mouth but closed it again after discovering he had no words to comfort Cody. This wasn't his element. He was a smart kid but not close to anything that anyone would ever confuse with emotional. He wanted to fix things but didn't know how. "They'll find him, Cody. I know they will," he finally said.

"How do you know?" Cody turned his head and looked at Sasha's eyes.

"I just believe it, Cody."

"But what if he ends up like one of those other kids that never come home? I overheard the officers telling my mom that for every hour that a kid is missing...that...his chances for coming home go down."

"He'll be back, Cody." His skin crawled that the police had mentioned that anywhere around Cody.

"But what- "

"They'll find him, Cody. The police will find him and he'll be home safe and sound." Sasha tried to put as much conviction into his voice as he could but it still rang a little hollow.

"I hope you're right, Sasha," Cody said softly.

"It's just faith, Cody. You have to have it."

"What's it like?" Cody asked after neither boy had spoken for a few minutes.

"What's what like? Faith?"

"Yeah."

"It's...it's like knowing, or wishing but it's not quite like wishing, stronger, I guess, that no matter how dark something looks at the time that it will get better. It's kind of hard to explain."

"Will you try?"

"Sure, Cody." The two continued talking softly until Cody's responses and questions became fewer and farther apart and his breathing deepened. Sasha looked down at his friend's sleeping face and pushed Cody's hair out of his eyes. He then reached over to Cody's small nightstand and picked up the book that was laying there. _A Brief History of Time, _the title read. Not usually a fan of astrophysics but dealing with it since Cody would most likely wake up if he moved to find something more his speed, Sasha opened the book and began to slog through.

Moseby slid into his parking spot and hurried into the hotel. The more he'd sat boxed in between other cars the more worried he'd become about Zack and the rest of the Martins. About his family. As much as he would deny it to anyone else, even under extreme duress, he thought of them that way. He strode into the lobby and made a direct line for the elevators. "Come on, come on," he said as he waited. The lit numbers on the wall slowly crawled to _L _and he stepped inside before the doors had fully opened.

Normally, and he wished this was a normal occasion, he'd be making this same ride up to the twenty third floor to get answers to some mysterious event that had taken place in the hotel. An overturned potted plant, a large stack of pillows placed beneath a point that was perfect for a teenage boy to jump from, a mustache scribbled on one of the hotel's pictures, that sort of thing. He wished that he was here to scold the boys.

"Carey," he said as the door opened. She nodded, phone hanging to her ear, and stepped aside to let him in the room. He stepped through and took in the sights in the suite. Police officers were scattered about the room, all in the middle of their own businesses, but he didn't see Cody. Moseby went further into the room and saw Cody sitting on his bed with another boy. The look on Cody's face nearly broke his heart.

"Yes, Agent Morris. That will be fine. Thank you." Carey ended the call and set the phone on the counter. "FBI," she said as she turned to Moseby.

"Carey, I'm so sorry," he said as he took her hands in his.

"Thanks."

"I came over as soon as I heard the news. I tried to call on the way here but," he shrugged his shoulders, indicating the call she'd just finished.

"I appreciate it, Marion," Carey said, taking her hands away and sitting on the couch.

"You're welcome. And I come with a little news from Mr. Tipton. He told me to tell you that if you need anything, and me made me to be very clear about the 'anything' part, you just have to say the word."

"Thanks, but I don't think that will be necessary."

"He also," Moseby said with a small smile, "told me that if you said that to tell you that he was serious. You're on fully paid leave until Zack comes home and anything we have is at your disposal." He sat down beside Carey. "I took the liberty of having the kitchen prepare dinner since you have more important things to worry about at the moment."

"You really didn't have to do that."

"I know, Carey. But it's all I can do. I know we've had our clashes over your boys in the past but believe me, this is the absolutely last thing I'd ever wish to happen. I can't wait until he's home and causing a ruckus in the lobby again."

"Thanks again, Marion. I - we appreciate it."

Moseby looked at the officers and then and leaned closer and whispered. "One more thing, Carey. Mr. Tipton wanted me to express the fact that if the," he paused as Detective Adams walked past, "if the issue of a ransom ever came up that he'd take care of that as well." He leaned back to his former position and waited for her reaction. "Okay?"

"Okay," Carey said, surprised.

"I'll keep in touch," he said as he stood up. Carey stood as well and walked him to the door.

"Thanks, Marion."

"Think nothing of it. I'm just doing what I can for my family." He quickly looked away, finding his shoes quite interesting, before making his way out the door.

Moseby had been gone for perhaps ten minutes and the police but a few less when Kurt arrived. He came in the room and Carey nearly collapsed into his arms. He pulled her close and wished he could have been there under better circumstances.

"Thank God you're here," she said as her arms locked around his body.

"I got here as soon as I could," Kurt told her as he kicked the door shut with his foot. "Catch me up to speed, will you?" Carey led him over to the table and they sat down. Carey started the story off and kept herself together until about the halfway point where she broke down.

"It's okay. Let me go make us some coffee, huh?" She nodded and he got up loaded the filter with fresh grounds and started the drip. Kurt detoured into the boys' room and saw Cody sleeping on his bed with another boy sitting close by with a book in his hands.

"Um, hello, sir," Sasha said, partially closing the book and placing it on his chest. "You must be Cody's father."

"Yes I am. And you must be Sasha." The boy nodded with a slightly surprised look on his face. "Cody's talked a lot about you."

"He talks about you a lot too."

"How is he?" Kurt nodded to Cody.

"He's okay, I think. He fell asleep a little while ago. We were talking about faith and I think I bored him so I figured I'd stay here and watch over him while Mrs. Martin dealt with all the police officers."

Kurt stepped forward and ruffled the boy's hair. "Thanks for being here for him, Sasha. I'm sure he appreciates it and I know Carey and I do."

Sasha looked like he was going to start glowing after Kurt's comments. "You're welcome, Mr. Martin. It's the least I could do." Sasha looked down at Cody and then back up at Kurt. "Do you want me to wake him up or something, Mr. Martin?"

"No, let him sleep for now. He probably needs it after the day he's had." Kurt started to turn to the door but stopped and turned back. "And what about you, Sasha? Are you doing okay?"

"I guess I'm fine. I just feel really terrible for you guys after everything that happened today. I want to close my eyes and open them again and see Zack laying on the other bed."

_So do we, kiddo, so do we, _Kurt thought to himself as he smiled a tired smile at Sasha. "He'll be back here before any of us know it, Sasha." He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. "Do you want me to take you home, Sasha? I know this is probably the worst sleepover you've ever been to and if you wanted to head home I wouldn't blame you at all."

Sasha was quiet for a moment and Kurt figured he was considering his options but the look on his face when he spoke turned that idea on its ear. "No, Mr. Martin, I'd like to stay here with Cody if that's okay with the two of you."

"Sasha, that is more than okay with me and Carey. Cody's lucky to have a friend like you." He flashed a smile at Sasha and got a bigger one in return as he left the room.

Kurt returned just as the coffee was finishing up and poured himself and Carey steaming mugs. "That Sasha is a good kid," he said as he sat a mug in front of Carey and sat down. Once Carey had taken a few sips she continued with the day's events, keeping herself much more in control this time around. She finished right around the time dinner arrived and they were both grateful for the interruption.

"What are we going to do, Kurt?" Carey asked around a mouthful of baked potato. Sasha had just left the living room with a heaping plate and they'd fallen silent.

"We're going to let the police do their jobs, Carey. There isn't much else we can do."

"I mean, what if...you know."

"That's not something we're going to even think about because it's not going to happen. They'll find him, Carey."

"But what if they don't? What if something terrible happens, or has already happened?"

"Faith, Carey. We have to have it."

The Green Chevy Cobalt pulled off Interstate 84 shortly before the Connecticut/New York border and Jerry looked for a gas station. Taking Zack had been an impulse and because of the suddenness of it, his car wasn't fully fueled for the trip back home. He saw a BP about a mile down the road and hoped that the car would make it. He'd pushed it as far as he dared but considering his cargo it was a risk he felt worth taking. He glanced over at Zack in the passenger seat and saw the boy was still sleeping heavily.

Jerry slid the car into place beside pump five and stepped out, quietly closing the door behind him. He pressed the _pay inside _button and pulled the nozzle from the slot and plugged it into his car. He ground his teeth as another car pulled up right beside his own and a harried looking man stepped out.

"Okay, I'll get some Combos. Does anyone have to go to the bathroom while we're here?" The man said to the gaggle of people inside the car. Various replies were heard and Jerry kept glancing back to look at Zack.

The man walked around and started gassing up his own car and looked over at Jerry. "Kids, huh? Drive more than five miles and everyone's hungry, thirsty, and has to pee."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Jerry said politely while wishing this man would shut his mouth and go about his business. He stared at the numbers and urged them to roll by faster.

"I wish my kids slept like yours did, buddy," the man said as he started cleaning his windows.

"Huh?"

"Your boy. He's sound asleep. I wish mine traveled like that." Jerry looked in the window again and saw Zack was still out cold.

"Yeah, it's nice," he said nervously. "I get him in the car and it's lights out for him. He's been asleep since we left Bos-Baltimore." Jerry wanted to smash his own face against the ground for being so careless or do the same to this stranger but he refrained from either.

"You lucky dog. We're just heading back from my sister's place and it's like there's been a war going on in the back seat for the last hour."

"Slip a little something into their Kool-Aid," Jerry replied with a shrug as he hung up the nozzle.

"Not a bad idea," the man said as Jerry started walking into the building.

"Can't hurt," Jerry called back over his shoulder.

The whole while he was inside waiting to pay for his gas, cigarettes, and a soft drink, Jerry kept staring out the plate glass window at his car and the nosy man's car. Each time the man looked at his Chevy Jerry felt his stomach tighten. He drummed his fingers on the counter as the cashier printed what seemed like a billion lotto tickets for an elderly lady. When he was finally finished, he stuffed his change in a pocket and nearly raced across the concrete back to his own car. He ducked inside and started the car before the man could start another conversation, almost leaving rubber on the ground as he gunned out of the station.

"Goddamn busybody motherfucker," he mumbled as he shifted into third and headed back to the highway. He reached into the car's console and pulled out his nearly empty pack of smokes and lit one up, letting the nicotine settle his frazzled nerves. He was back on 84 heading vaguely west in less than three minutes.


	9. Day One: End

The clock on the dashboard was only a few minutes from flipping over to ten when the flakes began falling against the windshield again. Jerry grumbled and turned the wiper blades on and wondered why it couldn't hold off for another thirty or so minutes until he made it home. His drive had already gone two hours longer than it should have thanks to the treacherous conditions. "Figures," he said softly as he glanced over at the sleeping Zack. Satisfied he'd not have any distractions on the home stretch, he sat up a little straighter as the snow began coming down harder.

When he finally pulled the Chevy off the highway and onto the ramp his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He'd had to slow down to not much more than a snail's pace and the final part of the drive had turned into an hour. "Stupid worthless plows. I could walk faster than this" Jerry yawned as he pulled onto his street. "What do I pay my taxes for if they can't keep the roads clear?" He vented to the drifting white blanket as he passed the last house before his own and went the last half mile and turned into his driveway.

Jerry loved not having neighbors close by every moment of his life but never quite as much as at times like these. Nonetheless, he turned the car off and sat for a moment as he looked around. Finally satisfied there was no one around, he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. He listened for any out of place sound but heard only the slow ticking of the engine as it cooled. Perfect. Jerry grinned as he walked around to the passenger side and pulled the door open.

"Up and at 'em, kid," he said as he shook Zack's arm. After he got no response he unfastened Zack's belt and roughly pulled him out of the car and slung him over his shoulder. He paused and put two fingers to the boy's neck and checked for a pulse, suddenly worried he may have given the kid too many pills earlier. Zack's pulse was strong. Nope, the kid was alive, just out like a light. "Good," Jerry said as he pushed the door shut with a shove from his boot.

Jerry manhandled Zack up the driveway and, after nearly slipping off the porch on an invisible patch of ice, managed to unlock the door and step inside. He switched Zack to his other shoulder and shut the door, taking care to relock everything. He smiled as he put his key in the double-cylinder deadbolt and turned it until it clicked. "Best twenty bucks I ever spent," he said as he pulled the key out and ran his hand over the smooth face of the lock.

He walked through the kitchen and and passed through the living room and stopped in front of the door that lead to the basement. His shoulders were starting to burn now and he lifted Zack into a slightly less painful position as he tried to open the combination lock that hung across the latch. It took two tries but he finally managed it and pulled the thing off and set it on the low bookshelf.

Jerry listened as he took the first few steps down the stairs and heard nothing but his own footfalls. "Guess he's asleep," he said to himself as he made his way down to the landing. He looked over and saw the television showing a silent test pattern on one wall and a bed with a blanket covered lump on the other. Jerry walked the short distance to the bed and pushed at the lump with the toe of his boot.

"Scoot over," he barked as a mess of black hair appeared from beneath the sheets.

"Huh?" the pale, sleepy face beneath the hair said.

"I said move your ass, Danny Boy, I brought you a friend." Jerry started to lay Zack down on the bed as the other boy scrambled out of the way.

"Who's he?"

"His name's Zack. Make him comfortable. He's had a long day." Danny looked silently from Zack to Jerry and back to Zack before he started to take Zack's shoes off. "You two get some rest, got it? We're going to have some fun before I go to work tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Danny said quietly as he dropped Zack's right shoe to the floor. He swallowed a sigh as he worked the other shoe and Zack's coat off. Danny slid a pillow under Zack's head and pulled the blankets over the both of them, making a special effort to not look up and see the sick smile he knew would be on Jerry's face.

Once Danny was finished, Jerry headed back up the steps and reattached and snapped the lock closed. He briefly hesitated, thinking of going back down the stairs, but decided against it. It had been a long day and the bad weather had only made it longer. "Besides, they're not going anywhere. They'll keep til morning," he said with an evil smile. Jerry spun the lock's dial and went down the hallway toward his bedroom. After undressing and dropping his clothes in the hamper, Jerry crawled into bed and was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

It had just turned two when Cody awoke. He opened one eye and looked around his dark room, remnants of what could have only been a nightmare fleeing before the light of consciousness. Zack had...something had happened to his brother. He couldn't recall what it was but he knew it was bad. As he came fully around he realized it wasn't and the events of the previous day rushed back. Cody choked back a sob but couldn't stop the shakes that came with them.

"Mmm? You 'wake, Cody?" Sasha's groggy voice asked from somewhere close by on the bed. Cody turned his head and saw him, eyes closed, sitting up against the headboard.

"Yeah," Cody answered sadly. "I woke up thinking it was all just a bad dream, that Zack would be over there sprawled out on his bed but it wasn't."

"No, I wish I could tell you it was but I'd be lying." Sasha reached a hand down and laced his fingers with Cody's and squeezed. Cody squeezed back. "I wish I knew what to say, Cody, but I don't."

"It's okay. I don't think anyone knows what to say at times like this. They shouldn't have to know." Cody rubbed the back of his other hand across his eyes. Neither spoke for a few minutes, Cody trying to not remember his brother wasn't in the other bed and Sasha trying to think of something to say.

"I'm thirsty," Cody finally said, taking the onus off his friend.

Sasha slipped from the bed and pulled the sheets back and let Cody slide out. Side by side they walked into the kitchen. The dim glow cast by the light over the sink showed his father asleep in one of the chairs around the dinner table. His head was laying on one of his hands and the other was curled around the handle of an empty coffee mug. Cody looked around and didn't see any sign of his mother and figured that she'd gone to her room for the night.

He went to the refrigerator and pulled a bottle of water out and offered it to Sasha before pulling another out for himself. As he was closing the door he noticed a large covered plate with the hotel's logo stenciled across it. "What's this?" Cody asked as he lifted the lid.

"It's lasagna and some other stuff. I heard your mom say that the kitchen sent it up."

"Did you have any?" Cody looked at it and realized he was hungry and pulled it out, setting it on the counter before grabbing two plates from the cabinet.

"Uh, no. You were kinda sleeping on me when it came in and I didn't want to wake you up."

"You should have moved me." Sasha just shrugged and Cody set about dishing out two helpings.

After the microwave dinged and their incredibly late dinner was warmed, the boys went out to the living room and sat down on the couch. They were midway through their quiet meal when Cody was hit with another round of tears. He let his fork clatter to the plate and and nearly dropped the whole thing on the floor when he tried to set it on the coffee table.

"This isn't fair! I want my brother back, Sasha. What'd he ever do to deserve this?" He leaned back against the couch and rubbed his eyes. Cody sighed as pushed his hair out of his face. He thought there were more tears coming but it seemed he was empty. "Sorry," he whispered as Sasha put his plate on the table.

"No, don't worry about it," he said as he sat back with his friend. Cody settled down and and within a few minutes had fallen back into a restless sleep. Sasha let him drift a little deeper before he stood up and took care of their plates and then changed out of his jeans and into a much more comfortable to sleep in pair of fleece pajama pants. He returned to the living room and pulled the folded blanket from the back of the couch and sat down beside Cody, spreading it over the two of them.

She'd been nursing the same drink in the hotel's bar for almost an hour. There'd been one before it, the glass still sitting close by with a few leftover bits of ice floating in the quarter inch of melt water, but she wouldn't let herself start a big collection of empty glasses. How could she race off to the police station in a few hours when Zack finally turned up if she was drunk? Let Kurt drive her? "Not likely," she said to herself with a laugh. "He can't drive a stick to save his life." Carey swirled her drink around and set it back on the varnished counter and checked her phone for any missed calls or texts for the hundredth time.

Carey glanced up at the row of flat screens on the wall behind the bar, her eyes darting from one with overnight SportsCenter reruns to another with CNN playing silently and a third telling everyone it was snowing and would probably keep on snowing until sometime around June. She looked over her shoulder and looked out the window and confirmed the weatherman's prediction. There was already a good four inches of snow on the patch of ground she could see. Her mind tried to talk about Zack being stuck out there, somewhere, in the snow and the cold but she wouldn't let it. She drowned the little voice with the remainder of her drink.

Carey set her glass down and waved the bartender over. "One more. Make this one stronger." She watched as the man pulled a rocks glass from beneath the counter and filled it with ice. He set it in front of her and picked up a tall bottle and poured two fingers' worth of the green liqueur and topped it off with a short pour of something from a blue bottle and garnished the glass with an orange slice.

"Here you go, Carey," he said as he pushed the nearly glowing creation towards her.

"Thanks, Ben," Carey told him as she took a sip and made a face. "That's good."

The bar was beginning to clear out as the clock neared four even though closing time at the Tipton was more a general idea than a strict time. The bartender was washing glasses and wiping down bottles as the last couple stumbled their way loudly out the door, the man swinging his room key from a finger.

"Finally. I thought they'd never leave," Ben said as he threw his towel and they both watched as it arced across the room and landed squarely on the edge of the couple's table. "Two points." He was just starting to walk around the bar when the middle tv caught Carey's eye.

A large banner at the top of the screen read Amber Alert and Zack's smiling face was centered between it and the meager list of information the police had. Carey let out a surprised gasp and Ben turned and followed her eyes.

"Oh Carey, I'm so sorry. Let me change that." He made a move to grab one of the remotes but Carey waved him off. He went and shut the double doors and flipped off the neons instead.

"You know, that's one of my favorite pictures of him right there. I thought I was going to kill him when we had it taken but it all worked out."

"Should I even ask what he did?" Ben asked as he poured himself a beer and leaned on the counter.

"He was himself, that's all," Carey said with a smile. "We went to have our pictures professionally done back in the spring. It was a big to-do and the three of us were all dressed to the nines. We took the family shot first and then Cody and I did our solo shots. Zack," she grinned, "Zack snuck off while Cody was posing and gelled his hair up like he'd stuck a finger in an electrical socket."

"Knowing him, that doesn't surprise me at all, Carey," Ben said as he took a long swallow from his mug. "Looks like you got it back to normal though, huh?" He gestured to the picture on the tv.

"Finally. I marched him into the bathroom and put his head under the faucet and washed all that stuff out. I was so mad I nearly dunked his head in the toilet!" They both laughed for a few moments before it dried up and they both watched the screen.

"They're going to find him, you know," Ben said after the silence had grown uncomfortable.

"I know. I just hope it's soon." Carey took another hit from her drink and sighed. "I'd probably better go. You're ready to get out of here and I should probably try to sleep a few hours before the police show up again."

"What are they coming back for?" He'd heard about the near-interrogation of Cody and couldn't figure out what else they could possibly want.

"They promised they'd come by around nine and give me an update on the case. That's what they called it, Ben. The Case. Not _your son's disappearance _or anything like that.The Case." She finished the rest of her drink and slid the glass across the bar. "Thanks for listening tonight. I appreciate it."


	10. Day Two pt1

Carey finally bid the bar a good night and headed back to her suite to get a couple hours of sleep before the police gave her their morning briefing. She opened the door and stepped inside to see two small forms under a blanket on the couch. Her mind lurched and she stifled a cry as she went from euphoria to reality in a split second. She sighed as she set her purse down on the kitchen counter, wishing she'd taken the bartender's offer of a bottle of liquid dream instead of turning it down since she was pretty sure it would be a while before she fell asleep. If she did at all.

The muted television was broadcasting as much snow as was falling outside and filled the room with its soft glow.

Carey walked over to her son and his friend and tucked the blanket around them a little tighter. She walked back into the kitchen, having decided that caffeine was in order, when the balcony door opened and Kurt stepped in. He wiped the snow off his shoulders and took off his boots before he joined her in the kitchen. He smelled like cigarettes.

"Any news while I was gone?" Carey asked.

"Not much. I called about an hour ago and they told me that they were sifting through the hard drive on his computer in their lab now. The lieutenant said they think they found the person Zack was chatting with over the last few days but they're waiting for the ISP to give them an address.

"Why are they waiting?" Carey said as her mouth turned into a frown. "They're the police. They shouldn't have to wait."

"I don't know, Carey. I'm sure they're doing the best they can."

"You know, Kurt, I'm already getting tired of hearing that. I don't want the best they can do, I want my son back," she told him, her voice much more forceful than she intended.

"You and me both, Carey. I'd give everything to have him back here right now."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm tired. And worried."

"I was going to make some coffee since I'm not seeing very much sleeping happening tonight. Want some?"

"Yeah, but I'll make it, Kurt. Your coffee always tastes like water."

She was digging the bag of coffee out of the cabinet when a can of chow mein noodles fell out and clattered on the floor with a tinny _thonk_. Carey cursed and bent down to snatch the can when _Zack loves Chinese food. He'd eat this whole can if I'd let him_ raced through her head. She set the can back on the shelf and leaned against the counter and bit her knuckle.

Kurt put his arm around her. "They'll find him."

"I know. It's just...I keep thinking these random thoughts about him. I'll see something and it'll remind me that he's not here. It's not fair." Kurt filled the pot while Carey started measuring scoops of grounds into the filter before she simply dumped in half the bag.

"Are you making mud or coffee there, Carey?" Kurt asked as he set the water beside the machine.

"I don't know about you but I'm not planning on sleeping any so I think it needs a kick or two."

"Fair enough," Kurt told her. Carey set up the machine and hit the button and they fell quiet as the machine began to gurgle. "So when is the next official briefing?" Kurt asked after the silence became too thick to stand any longer.

"Around nine. Unless they have a _development _or whatever the lieutenant called it."

Kurt checked his watch. "Five hours."

"I'm half-tempted to go down there right now and stand over their shoulders," Carey said as the black water started dripping down into the pot.

"I don't think that would help much, Carey."

"No, but it would give me something to do instead of sitting around here and waiting."

Zack was in the twilight between wakefulness and sleep when he rolled over. His arm came to rest on another warm body and his groggy brain tried to process this odd information. "Why are you sleeping in my bed, Cody?" He mumbled as he felt the form beside him. He opened one eye just enough to see and poked at where he figured his brother's ribs would be. "Get back in your own bed already." He heard a small whine that didn't much sound like Cody. Did one of his brother's friends sleep over last night? Why the hell was he in Zack's bed? And why did his face hurt? He poked the kid again and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, wincing at what felt like a giant bruise under his eye. He glanced around and nothing seemed familiar. Did they sleep over at someone else's house last night? That would explain the lumpy and unfamiliar bed and probably the kid, too.

He looked back at his bed mate and saw a mousey-haired kid staring at him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Danny. Your name is Zack, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Where are—oh no." Zack's sleep-fuzzed brain suddenly woke up and everything snapped into focus and he wished it hadn't. Memories of his abduction flooded through his mind. He tried to fight it but he felt his eyes start to well up with tears.

"Don't cry," Danny told him as he moved in to wrap Zack up in a hug. "It'll be okay."

"No, I don't think it will at all," Zack said as he let himself be embraced. He continued to sob silently until he fell back into a restless sleep.

It was ten til seven when Lieutenant Hamilton returned to the Martin's suite. Carey opened the door almost as soon as his knuckle first touched the wood. She ushered him in and, as soon as the door was closed behind him, sent a withering glance between him and the sleeping boys on the couch. He nodded, message received.

"Ms. Martin, as I told Mr. Martin earlier this morning, we found chat logs between your son and someone else in the immediate area. Once we obtained a warrant for the physical address of the computer, we passed the information along to the FBI and they executed the warrant and went to the location."

"And?" Carey interrupted before the man could continue.

"They found a mother and her frightened boy, but no sign of your son."

"Was he ever there?"

"No, ma'am, as far as we can tell, the boy, Kevin, had been chatting with your son while they were both home from school sick..."

"That's right, he mentioned Kevin a few times while he was home," Carey said.

"They had plans to meet up at the mall yesterday while Kevin was in town but according to him, Zack never showed up. That goes along with what," he paused and checked his notes, "Momma Rosa told us when we interviewed her."

"So you're back to where you started? No leads?"

"At the moment? No, Ms. Martin, we have none. No credible leads, anyway."

"Any lead that might bring my son home had better be treated as credible, Lieutenant," Carey snarled, nearly poking him in the chest with her finger.

"Ma'am, I assure you, we check out each and every one but the vast majority of them are on par with Elvis sightings. We got a call from Washington state less than five minutes after the alert went out over the news channels. I don't think I need to tell you that him being there that fast is all but an impossibility."

"No, you don't," Kurt said for the two of them.

"We did investigate it anyway, though. We checked every FAA flight plan and came up empty."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. And I'm sorry," Carey admitted. "You're doing everything you can do and I'm scared and exhausted."

"It's perfectly understandable. I can't imagine doing anything else if I was in your position."

"So what do we do now? Wait?"

"On one hand, yes. We hope and pray that someone comes forward with information. On the other hand, we're delving through every DMV registry in the northeast and looking for any car matching Mrs. Rosa's description."

"Only the northeast?" Carey asked.

"To start, yes. It's rather unlikely that a," Lieutenant Hamilton paused just long enough to chose a word other than _child molester_, "kidnapper would drive much further than that for an abduction. Naturally if nothing pans out in the region we'd expand our search."

"Naturally," Carey parroted.

When Zack woke up again a few hours later he saw Danny sitting cross-legged nearby watching a television that was very likely older than he was. The boy was wearing just a pair of white cotton briefs that had seen better days. Danny noticed him stirring and turned around.

"I guess I wasn't having a really bad dream when I woke up earlier, huh?" Zack said as the fog of sleep cleared and everything fell back into place.

"No, sorry." The boy's face lost a little of the warm smile it had taken on when he noticed Zack was awake.

"So, uh, your name is Danny, right? I think that's what you said."

"Yep, that's me."

Both boys fell silent and looked at each other for a few moments before Danny turned back around to the television. Zack knew what he wanted to ask but couldn't bring himself to do it. Some small part of his mind told him that if he did, any chance of this being one big crazy dream or hallucination would go up in smoke. Danny spared him the question.

"Jerry should be waking up soon. He works long shifts on Sundays and likes to play before he goes in."

"And by play you mean..." Zack trailed off.

"Yeah," Danny said in an oddly noncommittal voice. "It helps if you don't think about it. It doesn't last that long, maybe an hour, and then he goes to work," he told Zack in the same casual tone of voice one would use when talking about waiting for a bus.

Zack was about to say something else but the words died on his tongue as he heard footsteps overhead

"That's Jerry," the boy told him. Zack listened as the creaks in the floor headed to where he figured the head of the stairs had to be. He heard metal on metal and then the door creaked open and then heavy steps on the stairs. Zack began to shiver and he fought for enough control to not piss himself when the man reached the bottom of the steps and walked into the room.

"Good morning, boys. How's everyone doing this fine morning?" Jerry asked with a sinister smile on his face, hands on the hips of his flannel pajama pants.

"Fine, sir," Danny answered meekly.

"That's good. What about you?" He looked at Zack and waited for an answer.

"He just woke up, sir. He's probably fine, too."

"Just what I wanted to hear. You boys set for a little fun before ol' Jerry has to go to work this morning? The bossman wants me to go in a little early today so I don't have all that long but I'm sure we can still have some fun. You boys ready?"

"Sure, Mr. Jerry," Danny said."

"You ready, Zack?"

Zack's eyes flitted around the room, trying to find any way to escape what his mind knew was coming next but he couldn't -wouldn't- believe was possible. He wanted to scream that he should be at home right now but all he could do was look up at the man.

"What's the matter, boy? A little nervous? That's okay. We all are our first time," he laughed. "You'll like it, though. Did Danny tell you about all the fun we have?" Again, Zack couldn't speak. "No? I figured he would have told you all about it."

Jerry seemed to grow taller as he stood before them. "It's a pretty simple concept, Zack. I think you should probably be able to figure it out." He waited a few seconds but Zack couldn't reply. "No? Well it goes a little something like this. He's getting naked, you're getting naked, I'm getting naked...need me to fill in any more of the blanks for you, kid?"

"No sir," Zack said, barely able to keep the tremble of terror out of his voice.

"I thought you were a smart kid when I picked you up. Now strip." He watched as Zack and Danny removed their clothes, taking special interest in his new acquisition. "I have to say, Zackyboy," he said as Zack stood naked before him, "I'm glad I didn't shoot you when you tried to run away from me yesterday." He motioned for Zack to spin around. "I'd have thrown away a nice prize. Even if you are older than I thought you were." Zack completed his pirouette. "Yep, you'll definitely do for now."

_author's note_

_Yeah, I'm back. This story has been eating at me for almost two years and this is the third time I've started to write the second half of it. For whatever reason I sort of fell out of the whole fanfiction thing for a while but I've got the itch to write TSL again. This story **will **be finished and then I have a few others after this one._


	11. Day Two pt2

Zack sat with his back against the wall, arms wrapped over drawn-up knees and a blanket draped around his body like a shawl. Danny was sitting by his side saying soothing things but Zack didn't hear any of them. His mind was busy reliving the last hour of his life. Each time he thought he'd used up the last tear in his body, he always seemed to find a few that he'd kept in reserve.

Danny eventually left Zack alone to his catatonic state and began nibbling on one of the sandwiches Jerry had left at the top of the stairs just before he went to work.

"C'mon, Zack. You need to eat something," he called as he took a bite. "There's PB&Js and some bologna. And some juice, too. It's apple." Zack looked over and shook him off. After he finished his sandwich, Danny went over to the old television and put an equally old Power Rangers tape in the vcr. As he watched, he'd steal glances at Zack only to find that he hadn't moved. Danny switched tapes when it was finished and was halfway through a Disney classic when Zack finally spoke.

"How old are you, Danny?" Zack asked.

"Ten. What about you?"

"Thirteen." He didn't want to know the answer to his next question but couldn't help himself. "How long have you been here?"

"Um, what day is it?"

"The fifth of February."

"About a year and a half," the boy replied after a moment's calculation. "And I'm almost eleven now. February tenth is my birthday."

"Happy early birthday then," Zack said, trying to force a smile he didn't feel on his face. "I didn't know I was coming so I didn't bring a present."

"That's okay. I have someone to talk to again."

"Again? There's been other people here?"

"Two other boys. That I know, anyway."

"What, uh, what happened to them?" Zack croaked, already knowing the answer.

"The first one, Chris, was already here when I got here. Jerry took him to the doctor one day but he never came back." Zack highly doubted the boy ever saw a doctor but he let Danny continue. "The other boy was named Sam. He was about your age, I guess. He wasn't here very long but he was always really nice to me. He left one night about a month ago."

"He left?"

"Yep, I woke up one morning and he was gone. Jerry said he went to stay with one of his friends."

"One of Jerry's friends?"

"I guess so," Danny shrugged. "He doesn't like it when I ask too many questions."

Zack laid his head back down on the raggedy pillow and sighed silently. His already terrible situation had just become worse. He pulled the blanket back over his head and willed himself to wake up from this nightmare.

"I think I'm going to take a shower," Zack said slowly. He stood up and let the blanket fall away and walked naked to the small bathroom in the corner. Danny watched as he turned the water on but couldn't figure out how to make the shower head work.

"You have to pull the little stick up. The one in the middle of the spout." Two seconds later the sound of spray hitting boy and tile filled the room. Danny wanted to do something to help his new friend cope with what had happened like Chris did with him but didn't know how. He split his attention between _Lady and the Tramp _and the open shower door just in case Zack needed something.

After he got totally wet, Zack picked up the bar of soap and began to clean up. He washed off two days of dirt and sweat and grime but, as hard as he tried, he couldn't wash away the shame and embarrassment of what had happened. So he began to scrub. And scrub. Maybe if he worked hard enough he could rinse away the pain that was flooding his mind. Just a little deeper. He'd just started digging with his nails when a strangled sob escaped.

Danny didn't even bother to pause the movie. He scrambled over to the shower and jumped in without bothering to strip off his briefs. He tried to take the soap away from Zack but couldn't manage it so he settled for knocking it out of the boy's hand. Once the bar had stopped skidding around the bottom of the tub, Danny guided Zack's body back beneath the spray and helped him rinse off, rubbing his back occasionally. When he was finally clean, Danny pulled him out from under the water and wrapped a towel around his shoulders.

"It'll be okay," he said softly.

"I just want to go home."

"I know," Danny told him, sounding more like he was talking to a five year old than a teenager. He eventually managed to get Zack mostly dried and mostly dressed and helped him under the covers. It wasn't more than a few minutes before Zack was sound asleep. 

Cody was perched on the arm of the couch while Sasha had a rapid-fire exchange with his mother, listening in and trying to use what little Russian Sasha had taught him to follow along but having very little luck. He knew Sasha was calling to see if he could extend his sleepover through at least the next few days instead of heading home later that night but, according to his watch, nearly three minutes had passed.

"What was all that about?" Cody asked when the call finally ended. "That was a long talk for a simple question."

"That part of the conversation was over almost right away. She said it was more important for me to be here with you right now and that she'd call the school in the morning and take care of everything."

"What was the rest of it then?"

"Part of it was her telling me that your mom and dad can throw me out on my butt with her blessing if I start getting in the way. The rest was her telling me that once Zack is home safe and the man is in jail, she's going to be making a bunch of phone calls to make sure he doesn't last too long."

"To who?"

"She wouldn't say. She just said she knows people."

A little while later they were both back in the bedroom attempting to play video games but Cody's heart wasn't in it. He set his controller down on the bed and leaned back against the headboard. "I'm not feeling this game, Sasha" he said. "Zack always beats me at it every time we play."

"We can play something else if you want. I don't mind."

"I think I'll pass. You go on ahead, though. It's bad enough that you're stuck with me."

"I'm hardly stuck with you, Cody. I want to be here." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed.

"Thanks. It means a lot to me. But seriously, go ahead and play. I'll just watch -" Cody's voice trailed away, his vacant eyes looking off into a distant nothing.

"Cody? Cody?" Sasha said as he looked at his friend. 

In his dream, Zack was laying on his back in the park near their hotel, watching the wind blow puffy clouds around the sky and enjoying the sun on his face. He felt a shadow cross his body and looked up to see his brother standing over him. He sat up quickly.

"Cody, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not really here, Zack. I'm just part of your subconscious and I'm here to give you a healthy dose of reality check."

"What are you talking about?" Zack looked around at the idyllic scene of sunlit fields.

"What do you think I'm talking about?" Zack didn't answer so he continued. "Zack, I don't think I need to tell you how deep a pile of shit you're in, do I?" The sky and soft grass of the dream slowly melted into a bleak landscape of greys and blacks.

"No," Zack answered after a slight pause.

"Then why are you still there?"

"Because he's a big man. Because he had a gun. What do you expect me to do?"

"The same thing that you should have done - but DIDN'T - in Mama Rosa's parking lot. You need to fight with every ounce of your soul, Zack. You have _got _to get out of there. That's the bottom line."

"What if I can't?"

"What do you think, bro? You're going to have a short life as Jerry's new toy before he gets tired of you and leaves your body in a shallow grave somewhere."

"He-"

"He wouldn't?" The look on Cody's face was simply incredulous. "He's not a very nice person in case you didn't notice. Ask Danny. He's already told you that there's been other boys that have disappeared while he was there. Do you think they just went home? Do you?"

"No," Zack admitted.

"Then you've got to get your ass, and Danny's too for that matter, out of there. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but today."

"But-"

"God_dammit_, Zack, there are no buts about this. Either you do it or you're dead. It's that simple. You come home or you don't. End of story. Got it?"

"Yeah," Zack told him.

"Good. Now wake the hell up. You've got work to do." 

"Cody? Are you okay, Cody?" Sasha asked again. He got no response and waved a hand in front of Cody's face. He watched him for a few seconds, remembering the previous night at the mall when Cody spaced out momentarily. Those seconds dragged on to nearly twenty and Sasha had the words _Ms. Martin _on his tongue and was about to scream them when Cody finally snapped out of it.

"What the hell was that?" He said, wild-eyed. This space-out was a lot longer than last night's.

"I don't know, Sasha. I was here and then I was feeling Zack. I think I talked to him but I don't remember what I said." Cody rubbed his eyes in an attempt to get them to focus properly again.

"Is he...is he okay?" Sasha asked, shocked Cody was so calm about it.

"I think so. I'm pretty sure he's sleeping now."

"How did you..."

"I can't explain it, Sasha. All I know is that I was with him for a little bit. As dumb as it sounds to say, I guess it's one of those twin things."

"I don't care what kind of thing it is as long as your brother's okay, Cody," Sasha told him.

"I should tell Mom," he said as he scooted off the bed and onto the floor, Sasha right behind him. Cody took two steps and would have fallen over had Sasha not caught him. "Whoa. That little trip or whatever it was drained me," he said as Sasha bore his weight while he got his legs back.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling better already. Don't tell my mom about this part, okay?" Sasha hesitantly agreed and they went to find her.

As skeptical as Carey was about what she termed her boys' _twinlepathy_ (also derisively called Wonder Twin Powers when she was feeling less generous), she was still a little relieved when Cody told her of his experience. Her rational mind tried to explain it away as random luck but it had born too many results over the years for her to consider it total garbage.

"That's good news, Cody," she told him. "Good news." Carey caught herself before she tried to pump him for more information. She knew it would be pointless but could barely not ask. Her hopes were mildly buoyed. "I think it's about lunchtime. What do you boys want?" She asked as she opened the refrigerator. "The kitchen sent up a bunch of plates a while ago." 

"Cody-" he said aloud as he woke up. Zack looked around and saw Danny staring at him from across the small room. "What?"

"You were talking in your sleep. Who's Cody?"

"He's my brother. My twin brother."

"You have a twin? That's neat."

"Yeah, he's usually pretty cool. I was just dreaming about him."

"What about?"

"He told me that we're getting out of here. Tonight."

"How are we going to do that?" Danny asked, looking at the stairs and following them up to the door.

"We're going to escape."

"How?"

"That's the part I'm not sure about yet. What time does Jerry get home on Sundays?"

"Usually pretty late. About eleven or so. Sometimes it's midnight."

"Does he always come down here when he gets home?"

"Almost always," Danny admitted.

"Good," Zack said as a little of the old fire returned to his eyes.

"That's good?"

"I hope so. It'll be the only chance we have to get out of here. Do you have any warm clothes down here, Danny?" _Or any other clothes at all? _Zack added to himself. He'd only seen the boy in his underpants.

"Yeah, I have some. They're in that box over there." Danny pointed to a battered cardboard box behind the television. "I haven't worn them in a while but they'll probably still fit. I haven't grown that much."

"Do you have a coat, too?" Zack asked, afraid he was pushing his luck.

"No, no coat."

"That's okay. Just pick out the warmest things and get them ready."

"You don't want me to put them on?"

"Not yet. You can do that when it gets closer to the time."

"What are we going to do until then?"

"I'm going to figure out how to get us out of here, Danny."


	12. Day Two pt3

Zack's head felt clear for the first time since he'd gotten into Jerry's car the day before. He could look beyond the earlier events of the morning and focus again. He was over being sad. Over being the victim. Zack Martin was mad. He was normally an easy-going boy and rarely got worked up or moved to anger. When it happened, it was almost always the result of a great injustice, real or perceived. And his current situation was nothing if not the paramount of all injustices.

The sense of anger coursing through him reignited the the hunger in his belly. Zack realized he was starving. He inhaled the first sandwich he could reach without tasting it and went to wash it down with a swig of the juice but stopped almost as soon as the liquid touched his tongue. He furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. Danny watched as he went to the bathroom and spit it out in the sink.

"What's wrong?"

"Doesn't taste right"

"How?"

Back when Zack was a small child, he hated taking pills. Simply refused to do it. Carey got the idea of grinding a pill up and mixing it in with a drink from one of her friends and that worked for about a year. He noticed the mildly different flavor, the slight chalky and gritty taste, but never figured out why it sometimes tasted different until he caught her in the act.

Once, in the forever-ago of first grade, Zack missed school with a high fever. After getting the good news that he was staying home for the day, Zack went into the kitchen and made himself some peanut butter toast and a glass of juice. He carried the plate and his favorite glass back to his bed and began getting better with massive doses of cartoons.

He soon finished both and called out to Carey. "Mom! Will you bring me some more juice? I'm thirsty."

"I'm busy, Zack. You're a big boy, you can pour it yourself," she answered from the living room.

"I don't feel so good," Zack called back, smothering a smile on his face with a hand. "I might spill it."

"Fine," he heard his mother grumble before she came in and took the cup from him. "I'll bring it back to you in a minute."

Zack never possessed much patience even at a young age and his mother's minute seemed to take hours. He harrumphed and slid out of bed and padded towards the kitchen to see what was taking her so long. He peeked over the pass-through between the living room and the kitchen and saw her grinding something up on a piece of paper on the counter. A closer look revealed a bottle of children's aspirin close by.

Watching as his mother finished grinding what could only be a pill and dumping the powder into his glass, Zack's mouth dropped open into an 'O' of surprise. He stole away back to his bed while she stirred it and dove back under the covers to wait for her to bring him the concealed medicine. Zack took the cup from her and took a little sip, looking up at her and smiling the whole time.

"Taste good, kiddo?" She asked.

"Mmhmm!" He said to her through closed lips. He could taste the grit in his mouth.

"Good. I'm going to go watch the news." She left and Zack quickly spit the juice back into the cup. He shook his head at the empty doorway and hopped to the floor, juice cup in hand.

Zack softly walked into the living room and paused between his mother and the screen. Once he was sure he had her attention, he moved to the side of the television and stood beside a potted plant with a really big name and bigger leaves.

"Zack? What are you doing, honey?"

Zack looked at her and poured the contents of the glass into the plant. "Nice try, Mom," he said as he went to the kitchen and poured himself another glass of juice.

"There's something mixed in it," he told Danny as he dumped the entire pitcher down the sink. "Some kind of medicine."

"Medicine?"

"He's been drugging you, Danny. Probably every day." Zack nearly threw the pitcher across the room.

"You really think so?" Danny asked timidly.

"I all but guarantee it." Zack rinsed the container out and filled it with clean water. "Drink this. As much of it as you can. Maybe you can flush whatever it is out of your system before we get out of here tonight."

"You have a plan?"

"Not yet but I will. I promise."

Zack planned and schemed and made sure Danny drank and ate all afternoon. Each thing he came up with seemed more unrealistic and crazier than the last. _Stop trying to come up with the perfect plan, Zack. Just make a good one, _he told himself after an hour's worth of fruitless thinking. For some reason, that thought was immediately followed by a Mike Tyson quote he'd picked up somewhere: "Everyone has a plan until he gets punched in the face." He wasn't sure if that was some sort of premonition or what. "I'm going to do the punching if I can," he said to himself and went back to thinking the afternoon away. Nothing seemed more than partially likely to succeed but half chances were better than the no chance he knew he'd have if he stayed in Jerry's basement. He eventually came up with what seemed like the best choice and passed word on to Danny.

Shortly before Danny said Jerry usually returned, Zack had the boy put on the warmest clothes he found and helped him under the blanket. Once he was sure Danny was totally concealed beneath the faded wool, Zack placed his folded jacket near the steps and buried himself under his own blanket, grimacing slightly as his head laid on his hardened pillow.

The two boys talked very little as the minutes slowly ticked by. Zack spent the time gripping and tightening his hold on the rolled up end of the pillowcase and by giving Danny reassuring smiles and nods. Zack reached over and laid a hand on the boy's chest when they heard the car pull into the driveway.

"Be cool, Danny, be cool. It'll all be over in a little bit," he whispered to the boy, adding "one way or the other" to himself. He felt Danny's heartbeat jackhammering away anxiously and was more than a little surprised that his own was eerily calm. Zack pulled his hand back and strained to hear every noise. After what seemed like an eternity, the sound of a door opening and closing reached his ears.

"Easy, buddy," he said softly as he heard Danny shifting nervously nearby. Every short hair on his body stood on end as the door to the basement creaked open. Zack shut one eye and narrowed the other to a fine slit as Jerry came down the steps.

"Wakey wakey," the man said as he reached the foot of the steps. He continued to feign sleep as Jerry approached and stood over them. He fought to control a shiver as Jerry spoke again. "Up and at 'em, kids," he said, "it's been a long day and Uncle Jerry needs to relax. There's one," Jerry said as Zack opened on eye and looked up at him.

"You ready, kid?"

"Ready for what?" Zack asked, trying to sound as groggy as possible.

"The same thing we did this morning, boy. I've been thinking about you all day. Tried to come home early, actually, so we could have more time to play. Just you and me." Zack could physically feel the man's gaze drift over his body and his skin crawled. Jerry squatted down and put a hand on Zack's shoulders and rubbed it across his back and paused on his ass. "Oh yeah, just like I remembered."

"Closer,"Zack said to himself, "just a little closer."He couldn't stop his body from flinching as Jerry grabbed a handful of his backside. "What about Danny?"

"We'll let him sleep a little longer. You and me for a while, Zack. Just you and me." Jerry's hand slid back and forth a few times before grabbing another handful of flesh. "I'm off tomorrow. Plenty of time left tonight to wake him up later."

The clock had just changed to five after midnight in the Martin household. Cody was deeply asleep on one half of his bed while Sasha, book open across his chest, lightly dozed on the other half. Carey and Kurt were sitting in the living room with the news on and the volume low. Carey was just about to tell Kurt that she was going to turn in for a few hours when a sudden knock startled them both. They looked at each other and then raced to the door.

Carey pulled it open and saw a familiar officer standing before her. Her heart shot into her throat. They weren't expecting anything new until the morning. "Lieutenant Hamilton," she stammered as she let him in.

"Ma'am, sir," he said as he took off his hat and nodded to them.

"Please tell me you're hear with good news, Lieutenant." She tried to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"I am, Ms. Martin."

"Oh?" Carey and Kurt said at the same time.

"That's right. As we speak, the FBI is gathering for a raid on a residence where we believe the man who abducted your son lives."

"This is...sudden," Carey told him, a bit taken aback by the suddenness of his announcement.

"We received a tip a little more than an hour ago, Mr. and Ms. Martin, and we've been furiously checking it. The last piece of information fell into place just as I was leaving for home tonight and I volunteered to tell you personally."

"You're sure?" Kurt asked, wanting to believe but not letting himself just yet.

"The operation hasn't happened yet and there is always a small chance we're wrong but I'd bet the house on it, sir."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Carey said, barely keeping the tears out of her eyes. That seemed good enough for Kurt and he put an arm around her shoulders.

Back in the boys' bedroom, Cody was tossing and turning. He'd elbowed Sasha in the ribs and woke him up. "Easy, Cody," Sasha said as he moved slightly further away. He was just settling back in when Cody sat straight up and screamed.

"Now or never, Zack!"

Zack's knuckles went white as he squeezed his hand. "Okay," he said meekly. He turned on his side _now or never, Zack! _and rose to a sitting position. By the time Jerry noticed Zack's far arm begin its motion it was too late. Zack was already on his knees and grunting as he swung the loaded pillowcase as hard as he could. Jerry managed to turn his head just enough to take the brunt of the blow on his face instead of Zack's target, his temple. The sound of either shattering bone or splintering plastic, Zack wasn't sure which, exploded in the quiet room. Jerry fell backwards and let loose a guttural yell.

"Go, Danny! Go!" Zack yelled as he swung his makeshift weapon again. He wasn't so lucky the second time; the old, frayed fabric of the pillowcase tore and pieces of what used to be the vcr sailed across the room, the cord flailing behind like the tail of some bizarre 120volt pterodactyl, before it slammed into the wall.

Danny hopped up as Jerry fell and dashed to the steps. Zack had lost his balance after his second swing and had fallen on his hands and knees. He was turning to make his escape when a large hand reached out and clamped like a bear trap around his wrist.

"You little bastard!" Jerry said through bloody and broken teeth. "You're not going anywhere." He squeezed tighter and Zack yelped as he felt the bones begin to grind together. He tried to pull away but wasn't strong enough.

"Zack!" Danny cried from the foot of the stairs, holding Zack's jacket tightly to his chest.

"Go on, Danny! Go! Get out of here!" Zack yelled through a curtain of tears. Something snapped in his hand. "Aaah! Let go!"

"Never. I'm going to kill you for this," Jerry said as he started pulling Zack toward his body. "But before I do, I'm going to make this morning seem like a day at the beach. Oh yeah, you can count on that. You'll beg me to kill you."

Zack rolled onto his back and drew one of his legs up and snapped out a kick at Jerry's head and caught him in the jaw. The man's grip loosened and Zack ripped his hand away and backward somersaulted out of reach. He stumbled to his feet and raced to the stairs.

"Let's go, Danny," Zack panted as he grabbed the boy's hand in his good one. Danny had frozen at the bottom of the stairs as the struggle went on and it took a good tug before he snapped out of it. They reached the top of the steps and found themselves in the middle of the kitchen. Zack looked around and saw the door as Jerry bellowed from downstairs.

"I'm going to catch you!" He screamed as Zack pulled on the door's knob.

"C'mon," he said, but the door didn't budge. He looked in vain for a bolt to throw but saw none. Zack turned around and followed the counter until he saw another door in what looked like the living room. "Oh this is bullshit," he mumbled, desperation growing, as he found the same type of lock on the second door. He pulled Danny along behind him as they heard heavy footfalls on the basement steps.

"I'll make it quick on you, Danny," Jerry shouted from the kitchen landing. "But you, Zack...You...I'm going to enjoy watching the life drain out of your eyes after I slit your fucking throat!"

"What are we going to do, Zack?"

"We're...going out that window," Zack said decisively. He picked up a small wooden end table, gasping and nearly dropping it as his broken hand exploded in pain, and threw it through the glass. "Out!" Zack said as covered his face with his hands and jumped through the remnants of the window. He landed mostly on a small snow drift, tucked, rolled, and came to his feet. Danny quickly followed him but didn't land as well. The boy winced and fell forward as he tried to stand up.

"Great," Zack said as he helped Danny up. "Can you walk?" One attempted step quickly answered that question. "On my back. Hurry." Zack bent down and Danny climbed on. He looked back and saw a stumbling shadow approaching the window. Fueled by raw terror, he took off through the backyard as fast as he could through the snow and headed for the treeline.


	13. Day Two: End

The two boys were mere yards away from the edge of the tree line when Zack went down. He tried to plant his foot to cut around an ice-covered bush that suddenly appeared in from of him out of nowhere in the driving snow. He was just starting to say "shit" when he was sliding on his side with a mouthful of snow. He heard Danny cry out and struggled to roll off the boy. Zack was up to one knee when he looked back and saw Jerry climbing out of the broken window. Panicked, he jumped to his feet and yanked Danny up into his arms like a sack of groceries.

"He's coming, Zack!" Danny yelled in his ear. He had a perfect view of the house as they ran. "He's chasing us!"

"I know," Zack huffed back as they finally reached the first of the trees. He felt Danny bury his face against his neck. Zack gritted his teeth and tried to step up the pace.

Zack continued dodging between trees for the next few minutes, hoping against hope that he'd stop hearing any sounds of pursuit but it wasn't to be. Each time he thought they'd lost Jerry, a yell would pierce the night air from much closer than Zack liked. Like a bolt from the blue, the reason why hit him. "He's following our footprints." The realization came right as he began to notice how tired his legs were and the combination formed a lump in his stomach.

_No! _His mind yelled. He was not going back there. Not back to that hell-on-earth dungeon of a basement. Not while there was a breath in his body. He almost stopped in his tracks to face Jerry and end things once and for all, one way or the other, but couldn't. _Danny_. As soon as he had Danny to focus on, some of the panic that had been circling like buzzards in his mind cleared. He took a deep breath and kept churning his legs, doing his best to ignore the growing burn in his muscles.

"Why are we slowing down, Zack? I can still hear him behind us." Danny asked him when Zack cut his pace a short while later.

"It's either slow down or stop, Danny, and I really don't want to stop." Zack continued on for a few seconds before regaining the breath to speak. "I need you to help me. Look for somewhere we can hide for a little bit."

"I can't see much in all this snow."

"I know, Danny. I can't either but two sets of eyes are better than one."

Somewhere behind them, Jerry bellowed out another of his curses and Zack put on as much speed as he could. He was sure that they'd come across the perfect hide but each new stand of trees that appeared out of the white was as useless to them as the last. Zack was beginning to lose hope as he did the mental math of his burning legs and carrying Danny versus Jerry's seemingly inexhaustible stamina when the deadfall came into view.

"There, Zack," Danny said, pointing at a pile of fallen trees a few yards to their right.

"I see it," Zack said as he continued running, throwing a sharp zag into their course.

"Then why are we going past it?"

"We're going to double back around to it. Gotta throw Jerry off." The two boys fell silent as Zack went another hundred yards before turning and running another hundred and then finally rejoining their path before the downed trees. By the time they reached the jumble, Zack was exhausted and nearly fell over.

"Get as deep inside as you can," he whispered as he slid Danny to the ground. He snapped a pine bough from the nearest branch and stumbled to where the path to the deadfall joined the main path. Zack began brushing the snow as featureless and smooth as he could while crawling backwards. He'd just wriggled his way inside their hideout and nestled against Danny when he heard Jerry.

"I'm going to skin the first of you two little fuckers I find alive," he yelled. "And the other will wish he was the first when I'm done." Zack reached up and put a hand over Danny's mouth when he heard a moan start to slip from the boy's mouth. "Come the fuck out!"

Through a small gap in the snow-covered branches, Zack saw Jerry come up the path. The man's head turned in their direction and Zack was instantly certain that their time was up. But just as quickly, he looked away, his ear cocked, listening to a sound somewhere deeper in the woods. Zack saw a smile on the man's face as he walked past toward and then past their hide, close enough to spit on, before disappearing into the driving snow again. Zack let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and let his body relax.

"Can we go now," Danny asked softly after Zack removed his hand.

"No, not yet," he replied and began a slow, silent count to one thousand.

Finally, after what seemed like years, Zack's count ended and they made their way out of the deadfall. "Don't move and don't make a sound," he told Danny as he strained to hear anything in the forest. Satisfied, he bent down and let the boy climb on his back.

"Is he gone?"

Zack didn't answer right away, choosing his words. "I think so, Danny." He stood up and locked his arms under Danny's knees and started walking. He hoped Jerry was gone. No, what he actually hoped was that a mule walked up to Jerry and kicked the shit out of him just before a bus appeared out of nowhere and ran the man over a split second before a house fell out of the sky on the exact same spot and...

"Zack? Zack?"

"Huh? What, Danny?"

"I've been talking to you for the last coupla' minutes and you haven't answered me."

"I'm sorry, Danny. I kind of zoned out for a little while, I guess. What'd you say?"

"I asked you where we were going."

"Anywhere that isn't Jerry's house for now. I want to get as far away from there as we can before we call it a night."

"Are we going to sleep in the woods?" Danny asked, voicing a fear that had been running off and on through Zack's head when it wasn't busy planning worse and worse deaths for Jerry.

"I hope not. No, probably not. We can't be that far from a road." That didn't seem to quell Danny's fears.

"What if there's bears out here?"

"Maybe we can get a ride on its back," Zack joked, sidestepping the question. He had no idea of where _here _even was, much less if _here _had bears. "Besides, we'll probably walk through those trees over there and end up in someone's backyard before we see anything bigger than a rabbit."

They didn't. Nor did they find any sign of civilization when they crested the next hill or crossed a frozen stream a mile later. Zack's frustration grew with each and every step he took and he had to work harder and harder to keep it in check.

_Great, _Zack thought, _we escaped the pervert rapist's dungeon of doom only to freeze to death in the fucking wilderness._ The irony was not lost on him. He trudged on anyway, burying the grim humor deep in his mind.

"I'm cold, Zack," Danny told him sometime later through chattering teeth.

"Me too, Danny-boy. And I think I've gone about as far as I can for tonight. I think we're going to have to rough it out here after all." He knelt down and Danny slid off. Zack fell forward onto his hands and knees in exhaustion, ripping his injured hand away from the ground as lightning bolts of pain speared up his arm. He bit back a wail and hugged his hand against his body.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Zack lied. He was far from okay.

"Are we sleeping in the snow?"

"You know, you sure do ask a lot of damn questions for someone so small," Zack snapped back. He saw the hurt blossom on the boy's face and immediately felt terrible. He put his hands on Danny's shoulders and felt even worse as he felt the boy recoil. "Danny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"You sounded like him for a second."

Zack felt like he'd just been punched in the stomach. "I'm sorry. I really am. That's the last thing I'd want to do." He tried to pull the boy into a hug and, after a second or two, Danny let him. He felt the boy's chest hitch and heard muffled sobs. "It's okay," he told him as he patted his back. Zack led him over to a nearby tree and they sat down against it. "It's okay now."

Eventually, Danny's tears trailed off and he pulled back enough from Zack to wipe his eyes. "I feel so mixed up inside, Zack. I don't know why I cried."

"We went through some pretty crazy times today, Danny. I think that's more than a good enough reason."

"You didn't cry."

"No," Zack admitted, "but I was pretty close."

It was after two in the morning in the Martin suite back in Boston. Cody and Sasha had been coaxed to bed an hour before with promises of being awoken if there was any news. Carey and Kurt were sitting at the table studying the bottoms of their coffee mugs and trying not to glance at the clock. Their liaison, Lieutenant Hamilton, was leaning against the counter in the kitchen. He'd pull his phone out every few minutes and look at it, almost as if commanding it to ring. Finally it did. He flipped it open and spoke while Carey and Kurt looked on anxiously.

"Well?" Carey asked when he closed the phone. "What's the news?"

"The news is," he said, hesitating, "is that they raided the house and didn't find anyone."

"That's not the news I wanted to hear, Lieutenant," Carey said softly. "You were supposed to tell me that they found Zack and that he was on the first helicopter or plane or bus or whatever back here."

"Was he even there in the first place?" Kurt asked after a slight pause.

"Yes, we know for certain that he was."

"And?"

"Mrs. Martin, Mr. Martin, I'm supposed to just tell you that they are still looking for your son but I can't. You deserve better than that."

"Thank you," the Martins said almost in unison.

"You might want to not thank me yet. If you're ready, here's what they told me."

"We are," Kurt answered.

"Okay. The entered the house and found it empty and began a search. They found quite a bit of blood in the basement and signs of a struggle. There were more signs of a struggle upstairs, including a broken window and overturned furniture."

"How does any of this prove my son was there?" Carey asked.

"They also found a smashed computer hard drive as well as two digital camera memory cards that weren't smashed. Mrs. Martin, there is...photographic evidence of Zack being there, as well as at least one other boy."

"The pictures, Lieutenant, they're-"

"Yes ma'am," the man said, sparing her the need to articulate the words."

"Kurt, I swear to God that once we find Zack, if the police haven't found this man yet, I'll find him myself and tear him to pieces with my own bare hands."

"Calm down, Carey," Kurt said gently.

"No!" She yelled. "He touched my son. He _violated _my son. I'm going to kill him." She picked her mug up and slammed it back on the table, shattering it into dozens of pieces. She swept the remnants off the table with the back of her hand. "And if he killed Zack, if he did..." her voice broke as she tried to control her anger enough to speak. The lieutenant interrupted her.

"Ma'am, we don't know that he did and you shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"You're right," she said after she calmed down. "You're right. But I promise you right now, you better put him in the deepest, darkest corner of the world you can if you find him before I do, Lieutenant, because I will kill him. I _swear_ it."

"Carey, you've got to calm down," Kurt said, putting a hand on her arm. "You're going to wake the boys up."

"Sorry," she told them. She looked at the mess on the floor as if seeing it for the first time. "I should probably clean this mess up before someone steps on something." Carey got up and went to retrieve the broom and dustpan from the closet.

"Anything else you can tell us, Lieutenant?" Kurt asked once Carey had started sweeping.

"The man's car is missing and we've put an APB out on both it and him. We also flagged his bank account and credit cards. If he tries to use either one, we'll be on top of him in no time."

"So we're back to waiting again," Kurt said to no one in particular.

"Yes, but it's different this time. We know who he is, what he looks like, and what he's driving. Everyone is looking for him and his car now. We'll find him and get your son back."

"You think he took Zack with him?" Carey asked as she dumped the dustpan's debris into the trash.

"I don't know for sure one way or the other, but yes, that's my gut feeling."

"Bear would kick my butt if he saw this thing, Danny," Zack said as he looked at their improvised shelter.

"Bear?" Danny looked around nervously.

"Not that kind of bear. Bear Grylls. He's some survival guy on tv. They stick him somewhere bad and he has to make it through a week."

"He should try to survive a year and a half in Jerry's place. If he can do that, then he can tell you your shelter sucks."

"Amen, Danny, amen," Zack said.

The shelter wasn't perfect, far from it, but it would hopefully keep them out of the wind and snow for the rest of the night. The boys crawled between two snow walls across a layer of small pine branches, taking care to not rap their heads on the thicker branches that made up their make-shift roof. Zack unzipped his coat and let Danny crawl in with him before re-zipping it.

"You don't snore, do you?" Zack asked as they settled.

"No!" Danny laughed.

"That's good."

It wasn't five minutes before Zack heard Danny's breathing change to deeply rhythmic and wished he could fall asleep as easily. Each time he felt the draw of sleep, he'd hear a sound from somewhere deep in the forest and instantly snap wide awake. A branch snapping under the weight of the snow or perhaps the thump of an owl's wings against the cold air. It didn't go well for him once he finally did pass into the realm of dreams, as he was constantly being chased by Jerry. He woke up at least three times to the imagined feeling of the man's large hands wrapping around his throat.


	14. Day Three pt1

After a night spent more awake than asleep, Zack woke and slowly opened one eye to the morning. The sun was just beginning to filter through the layer of pine boughs and snow that was their make-shift roof. He squinted and looked away and saw part of Danny's head through the lower edge of his vision. Zack grimaced and shifted slightly to move one of the boy's elbows from his ribs.

Zack wasn't as cold as he figured he'd be. He was far from warm but wasn't freezing. "I guess Bear knows what he's talking about after all," he said to himself. He slowly took stock of his body. The ache in his legs from last night was gone. The knot that had formed between his shoulders from carrying Danny for however many miles was gone. His stomach...was empty. As if on cue, it rumbled. Zack frowned. "Not much chance of finding a McDonald's out here." It rumbled again.

His hand. That's what he was worried about. Zack had rolled over on it more than once during the night and instantly awoke in pain. He slowly inched his hand out of his sleeve and held it up. Even in the shadowed light of their shelter it didn't look good. Blotches of purples and blues and blacks covered everything from the middle of his thumb, all the way across the top of his hand, and down to the base of his pinky. He wasn't sure but he thought he could see the individual marks of Jerry's fingers on his hand. Zack sighed and gently put his hand back down.

Somewhere along the line, Zack had fallen back asleep. He woke back up when Danny started stretching on top of him. Zack yawned and watched as Danny came awake.

"Hey," he said as the boy's eyes popped open.

"Hey Zack." Danny yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good."

"Well that makes one of us," Zack said as he unzipped his coat and let Danny slide off him.

"You didn't sleep good, too?"

"Nah, I had this really squirmy blanket that didn't stay still all night," Zack told him.

"You had what-hey!"

"No, I'm kidding. You weren't that bad."

The two boys traded small talk for a few minutes while they woke up completely. Finally Zack decided that they could put off leaving their shelter no longer.

"Okay, Danny. Let's do this. Time to get home." Zack crawled out of their shelter and stood up. "You know," he announced to Danny and the rest of the woods, "I've had just about enough snow to last me the rest of my life." He looked around their immediate area and he only difference he could see between now and the previous night was that instead of dark and white, it was bright and white.

"This sucks," Danny said as he crawled out behind Zack.

"Yep. That's why we have to get moving. Think you can walk today?" Danny tried standing up and putting weight on his ankle.

"Ouch!" He said as he lifted the injured foot up and leaned against Zack for support.

"That looks like a _no,_" Zack said, turning away so Danny wouldn't see him frown. It was hard enough carrying him last night when the snow was up to his ankles. Today, from what Zack could tell, the snow looked to be at least shin deep. He sighed and squatted down and Danny hopped on.

"I hope you don't have any important plans today, Danny," Zack said as Danny got into position. "Because I don't think we'll be moving all that quick."

"I guess I'd better find a faster ride then," Danny joked.

Zack slogged on, breaking a trail through the snow while Danny kept up a running commentary on anything and everything he could think of. Zack would answer occasionally but saved most of his talking for one of their many breaks. Sometime, Zack figured it was probably around noon but he couldn't see the sun through the snow and clouds, they stopped and Danny asked him about how he was kidnapped. After he told Danny his story, he returned the question.

"How about you, Danny?"

Danny was silent for a moment before he answered. "I lived in a foster home then. But it was more like a group home, I guess, since there were usually around five or six of us. Our school was four blocks away so we'd walk home. One day, the day I was kidnapped, I stayed after school to work on a project so I wasn't with the others. I was halfway home when Jerry pulled up in his car.

"He pulled up while I was waiting for the light to turn and held up a picture of a dog. 'Hey kid, have you seen this dog?' he said. I remember it perfectly. I told him I hadn't and he looked real sad. 'Man, my wife is going to kill me. She loves Pepper more than she loves me, I think.' I told him that the dog was really cute." Danny stopped talking and studied the snow.

"You don't have to keep going, you know," Zack told him.

"I'm good. I was just thinking about how stupid I was."

"You were, what? Eight? We're all dumb at that age."

"I guess. Anyway, he offered me ten dollars if I'd help him look and said he'd drop me off at home after we found the dog. All I had to do was ride around with him in the neighborhood and look and call out the dog's name while he drove. I knew I shouldn't do it, we'd talked about stranger danger in school, but he seemed nice and I didn't want his wife to be mad at him. And I'd never had ten dollars of my own, Zack. That was a lot of money. So I did it. I got in and we went up and down the streets. I didn't notice that we were getting farther and farther away from my house and the school until we passed the mall that was near the highway.

"I told him that I shouldn't be this far away from my house or something like that. He told me that I'd be going a lot farther away than this and that I should get used to it. He turned his car onto the highway and I cried for a few miles before he told me that needed to stop before he threw me into traffic. And...I guess you know what happened after that." The boy's voice hitched a few times and Zack was sure that tears were soon to follow.

"Wow, Danny," Zack said as he put an arm around the boy. "You know what though?"

"What?"

"You don't have to worry about him ever again. Ever. I promise."

"How?"

"Because, when we get out of here, and we are getting out of these stupid woods, I promise that too, we're going to the police and we're going to tell them what that freak did and he'll be put in jail for a _long _time. Forever."

"Good. He deserves it."

"He deserves a lot worse, Danny. He might just get it, too."

"Huh?"

"I've heard that people like him don't last too long in jail."

"Good. I wouldn't care a bit."

"Me neither." Zack started getting to his knees. "Now let's get moving again. I'm getting tired of all this snow."

"Me too," Danny announced as he climbed on Zack's back.

When they started out for the day, Zack's rest breaks were short and occurred once or twice an hour. As the afternoon wore on toward darkness, they'd increased to every fifteen to twenty minutes and lasted longer. They'd find a tree to lean against and neither boy talked much once they'd settled down. It was only when Zack felt the calming numbness of sleep calling him that he'd rouse himself and start again.

As he trudged along with Danny riding shotgun, he focused on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other. He tried his best to ignore his increasing hunger pangs and growing exhaustion but it was becoming a losing battle. Zack also began wondering if he'd be able to keep any of his promises to Danny. It was looking more and more likely that they'd spend another night in the middle of nowhere and the odds of them getting through that and then carrying on with another day like this one were very, very long. Zack sighed softly.

They crested a small hill and began carefully heading down the other side and there it was. Through a gap in the trees and a lightening of snowfall, Zack caught a glimpse of what could only be a road a few hundred feet away. He shook his head and looked again, certain that he'd imagined it, and when the conditions aligned a second time, he was sure. There was a road. A way the hell out of here. Zack felt a smile break out on his face and his legs suddenly weren't as weary.

"Danny! Do you see it?"

"Huh? See what?"

"Straight ahead through the trees. It's a road."

"I don't—wait, I do see it. Finally!" Zack could feel the boy's body relax on his shoulders, as if Danny finally let out a breath he'd been holding for hours. "Maybe we'll come out near a gas station or restaurant so we can get some food."

"I'd settle for anywhere with a phone," Zack said as he reached the bottom of the hill and started across the clearing that led to the road. "A cheeseburger would be nice, too," he added and heard Danny laugh.

"Cheeseburger and french fries," Danny said. "And a Coke!"

"Cheeseburger, french fries, a Mountain Dew because Coke is terrible, and then another cheeseburger after that. Maybe a third after the first two. What do you think about that, Danny?"

"I think you're fat!"

"Hey! I'm going to eat your burger now too, kid. Sorry. That's how it works."

"It better not work like that," Danny told him as they broached the trees at the edge of the road.

Zack stepped onto the shoulder of the road and stopped. "What the hell is this?" he asked no one in particular. He looked up one way and back down the other and saw no sign of anything human other than a pair of tire tracks almost completely refilled by the snow. "Where is everyone? Is this some kind of a joke?" He took a deep breath and yelled. "I didn't cross however many miles of fucking forest to find-" Zack's voice cracked and he fell silent.

"Which way do we go, Zack?" Danny asked after giving Zack a few seconds to pull himself back together.

"I...I have no idea, Danny." He pushed his hair up out of his face. He shouldn't _have _to make any other decisions. He'd done his part by getting the two of them out of Jerry's and across the damn frozen backwoods tundra. That's more than enough for any one person.

"Let's go right," Danny told him.

"Why right?"

"Because that's the way the tire tracks are going," the boy said matter-of-factly. Zack started to open his mouth but shut it since that was as good a reason as any.

"Right it is." He readjusted Danny's weight and started down the road.

While the road was devoid of any traffic, and had been for at least an hour as far as Zack could figure, it was relatively straight and flat. Not having to find places to cross partially frozen streams or skirt dense growths of trees allowed them to move much faster than they'd managed before.

"Okay, Danny. Here's the deal," Zack said ten minutes or so later after they'd rounded a curve, "I think we're going to have to start looking for another place to crash for the night. I don't know how much further I can go. Plus, it's getting dark and it's going to get colder really fast." He felt Danny moving around and it almost made him lose his balance.

"Settle down up there, kiddo, or we'll end up in a ditch."

"Zack, turn around."

"What? No way. We're going this way now. Too late to change your mind."

"No, just turn around."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Zack stopped and turned, planning on appeasing the boy before continuing on. "Do you see it?" Zack heard the excitement in Danny's voice before he saw the faint glow of light coming around the corner.

"Headlights!"

They stood in the middle of the road and waved and shouted as the light became brighter. Zack unknowingly had tears of joy running down his cheeks when the plow finally came into view. They heard the engine downshifting and the truck slowed as it neared them, stopping a handful of feet away. The hazard lights began flicking on and off and the door opened. Zack squinted into the lights and saw a figure standing on the running board behind the open door.

"Need a lift boys?"

"Oh do we ever, sir," Zack said after he found his voice. Zack felt his legs grow wobbly and quickly sank to one knee, all but spilling Danny to the ground in the process. "Oh do we ever." Upon seeing Zack nearly fall, the man hurried from his truck and helped Danny off his back.

"Easy there, big guy," the man said as he looked the two boys over. He bit back a grimace. "You two look pretty rough. What say I get you boys in the truck and take you somewhere warm? Maybe we can talk about why you're out in this weather."

"We're not runaways," Zack said. "At least not the kind you're probably thinking of."

"I didn't say anything about that. We can work on that once we're out of the middle of the road and back in the heat." He looked at Danny and saw the boy was all but balancing on one leg. "Can you walk?" Danny shook his head in the negative. He helped Zack back to his feet with one arm and scooped Danny up with the other. He led them to the passenger side door and slammed it with an elbow to clear all the snow away from the handle. Once it was clear, the man opened the door.

"Little guy, you're riding in the middle, okay? Just be sure not to hit the shifter with your legs." Danny nodded as he was lifted up and into the truck. He slid across the seat and stopped in the center. Zack climbed in after him and pulled the door shut. The man got back in and they were on their way.

"Thank you so much for the ride, mister," Zack said as he thawed out in the truck's heat. "I don't think we could have stayed outside for another night."

"_Another _night? What on earth have you been outside that long for?"

"We were kidnapped and escaped," Zack told him.

The man, T. Spencer, according to the badge hanging from his jacket, turned to Zack and studied him a second before looking back to the road. Zack could almost see the light bulb go on over his head as it hit him. "You're the boy that was all over the tv the other day. Chris Martin, right?"

"Zack Martin. And what do you mean I was all over the tv?"

"You know that missing kid thing they always run at the bottom of the screen? I must have seen your face a hundred times."

"I guess I'm famous," Zack snickered.

"You must be half-starved. Zack, if you can reach it, there's a lunch box under your seat. I don't know if you boys like bologna sandwiches with mayo or not, but they're yours if you want them."

"Mr. Spencer," Danny said softly, "I'd eat a cat food sandwich topped with broccoli right now."

"Me, too," Zack added.

"Dig in, then," he said. "And you can just call me Todd. Mr. Spencer is my dad's name," Todd said with a smile. Danny introduced himself before attacking one of the sandwiches from the box.

When he was barely over halfway through with the sandwich, Zack discovered his eyelids were quickly becoming unbearably heavy. He noticed that Danny had already inhaled his sandwich and was leaning against him and breathing deeply. Zack smiled and put his free arm around the boy. He managed to take the last two bites of his own sandwich just before the warmth of the truck and the relief of being rescued combined to bury him in unconsciousness.

Todd kept driving while they slept. When he finally climbed out of the small valley they were in, he picked the radio handset from the dashboard. "Dispatch, this is truck 20. I need you to put me through to the police. I picked up some precious cargo just after the Route 1 exit."

"Care to be a little more specific, Spencer?" the radio operator shot back.

"I found two kids out in the middle of nowhere, Dispatch. One of them is that Martin boy that went missing a few days ago. Not sure who the other one is but they both look pretty ragged."

"Copy that. I'll relay the message." The radio fell silent for a moment or two before the voice came back on. "Mercy Hospital will be waiting for you, Spencer. Be careful."

"Always am, Dispatch. Truck 20 out."

_Sorry for the delay on this, everyone. I meant for it to be up a few days ago but some lovely winter weather somehow managed to knock my internet out until this morning and my phone isn't quite 'smart' enough to post from (if you even can. IDK). Also, this story was nominated for a TSL award and I think that's awesome. I won't tell you to vote for it but I wouldn't mind if you did!_


	15. Day Three pt2

The hours after the failed raid had grown long in the Martin suite. Conversation, when it happened at all, was subdued and muted. It was going on six in the evening and Kurt and Carey hadn't moved from their positions in over an hour. "Come in," Carey called from her spot on the couch after a knock on the suite's door. She and Kurt were sitting with CNN muted on the television in front of them. She looked up as Moseby pushed the door open and pulled a cart piled with food in behind him.

"I'm afraid to ask, but are there any updates, Carey?" he asked while he wheeled the cart next to the table.

"No. Not yet," she answered with a sigh.

"I know everything will still turn out," Moseby said after a few quiet moments spent taking the lids off the plates.

"Thanks, Moseby. For both dinner and the thoughts."

"I just wish I could do more," Moseby told her as he finished stacking the lids underneath the cart. The smell of food brought the two boys from the bedroom. They joined the adults around the table and were seconds away from digging in when Cody looked over at the silent screen. He watched for a few seconds before his eyes nearly bugged out of his head and it was another few seconds before he could find his voice.

"Mom! Look!" He finally said and pointed. Everyone turned to see Zack's picture super-imposed over a jumpy video of police officers, guns drawn, surrounding a car. The whole scene was bathed by floodlights. _Breaking News! _scrolled repeated across the bottom of the screen. Sasha, the closest to the couch, dove for the remote and turned the sound back on.

"...reporting from the US/Canadian border. Behind me you see a ring of law enforcement

personal circled around a car believed to be driven by Jerry Davis. Davis is the chief suspect in the abduction of thirteen year old Zack Martin from a Boston parking lot last week. The situation is naturally a little confused and the details sketchy, but from what we've been able to gather so far, Davis was initially stopped when the license plate of the car he's driving came up as stolen. He was what you call _flagged _and ordered to pull into a small side area for further inspection and then pulled a gun after being asked to step out of the car." The screen split to show both the anchor and the reporter in front of the stand-off.

"Any sign of the missing boy, Gabrielle?" The anchor asked.

"No, the officer I spoke to just before I came on the air with you told me that Davis was alone in the car."

The excitement that had built in the room over the last few seconds disappeared and their hopes deflated. Carey threw the remote into the corner and the batteries exploded into the air. Less than a second later, her phone rang and she nearly threw that as well. She stabbed the _talk _button and brought it to her ear.

"This is not a good time," she spat as she answered.

"Mrs. Martin, it's Lieutenant Hamilton. Are you near a tv?"

"Oh. Yes, Lieutenant. We just saw it. They said there's no sign of Zack in the car. Please tell me you know something they don't." Cody, Sasha, Kurt, and Moseby held their breath as one.

"No, ma'am, he's not in the car-"

"Okay then," Carey interrupted, crestfallen. She pushed a stray hair back from her forehead and her eyes took on a steely glint. "I'm going to somehow find a way to get ten minutes alone with him. Just the two of us, a hammer, and a cleaver. And I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it."

"I've got something you'll enjoy even more, Mrs. Martin."

"No, I really don't think you do."

"We found him."

"What? Where is he?" Her emotional roller coaster took a drastic upswing and the others in the room fed off of it. Cody hugged his friend, Kurt hugged them both and Carey grabbed Moseby with her free arm.

"He's at a hospital in New York, Mrs. Martin. I believe the name of the town is Ravena . It's an hour or so drive south of Utica."

"Is he okay?"

"I'm really not sure. The only information I have is that he's currently resting comfortably."

"I'm going to let you go now, Lieutenant. I need to figure out where that is and how we're going to get there."

"Of course, Mrs. Martin." Carey hung up and hugged everyone.

"Where is he, Carey?" Kurt asked when she finally let him go.

"He's in New York. Somewhere called Ravena." She bent down and kissed the top of Cody's head. "How bad do you think the roads are, Kurt? Can my car make it?"

Moseby, quiet during the celebration, spoke up. "It doesn't matter how the roads are. You aren't driving there." Both parents were a split second away from launching hundreds of indignant replies. "One of Mr. Tipton's private jets is at the airport and it will be ready to fly in an hour."

"What?" Carey stuttered, taken a bit by surprise.

"Carey, when I told you that Mr. Tipton offered whatever assistance it took to get Zack home, he meant it."

"Thank you, Marion," she told him.

"You are most welcome. I'll have a driver here in twenty minutes. Go pack your bags. I have some phone calls to make." Moseby, suddenly filled with purpose, pulled his small cell from a pocket and flipped it open as he walked out the door.

_Yeah, it's a short chapter. I don't like it either. I was originally going to have three more chapters but the last two merged into one large chapter and kicked this one out. So one more. I'm going to try to get it finished before Christmas but I have a big vacation coming up the day after and I'm getting into panic mode. Hopefully it'll get done before I fly out, but don't hold me to it. Thanks for reading._


	16. Day Three: EndDay Four End

Zack only vaguely remembered anything after getting out of the plow when they arrived at the hospital. Diesel exhaust. Fuzzy snapshots of people dressed in blues and whites. Looking at one man's jacket and seeing a weird snake climbing up a flagpole on his shoulder. A water-spotted ceiling tile in a hallway. Someone smelling like burritos telling him to breathe deeply and relax. Then nothing.

He awoke some undetermined amount of time later and found himself laying in a hospital bed with partially drawn privacy curtains on both sides and a window with closed shades across the room in front of him. He furrowed his brows as he tried to recall exactly how he'd ended up here. Things were beginning to finally fall into place when he noticed his hand wasn't moving like it should. He lifted his arm and discovered a cast that spanned most of his arm. "What the?" he said as he moved it around. The tips and nails of his ring, middle, and index fingers were sticking out but that was the last bit of skin he saw until the cast ended just below his elbow.

He tapped the knuckles on his other hand against the cast and was tracing the patterns of the strips when Danny's face popped into his mind. He sat straight up in his bed and had nearly yelled the boy's name when he saw a pair of small feet in the next bed. "Danny?" he asked as he pulled the curtain back. "That you?" The smile on the boy's face when he saw Zack was up and around made the dull throb in Zack's hand momentarily disappear.

"Hey Zack! You're awake!" Danny gently closed the book he was holding and set it aside. He slid himself off the edge of the bed and landed on one foot on the tile floor. Zack watched as he hopped the few feet over to his bed and leaned against the rail. "How's your hand?"

"Still there, I guess." He wiggled his fingers as much as he could. "Bet I won't have any problem cracking nuts for a while, either." Zack lightly rapped his cast against the bed rail and smiled at the resulting _thump._ "Why don't you come on up here?" Zack told him after seeing Danny wince in the fraction of a second he put any weight on his other foot.

Danny slung a knee over the side of the bed and started to roll up on it. Zack helped him out by grabbing the back of the boy's pajama pants with his good hand and tugging. Danny eventually got comfortable and situated. "Thanks. It's hard when you can't jump."

"No problem, buddy. How come they didn't put your foot in a club like this?" Zack hit his cast on the rail again.

"The doctors said they're still looking at the x-rays. I might have a hair-something but they aren't sure."

"Gotcha." Danny scooted around and let his ankle fall off the bed. "So what were you reading over there?"

"Dr. Seuss."

"Oh yeah? I loved him when I was like five years old. Green Eggs and Ham was my favorite," Zack told him and became puzzled when Danny frowned. "What's the matter?"

"I don't read so good. That's why I still read it," Danny explained.

Zack felt about two inches tall. Of course he didn't read that well. He was in what? First grade when Jerry kidnapped him? Maybe second? He had to resist the urge to hit himself in the face with his cast. "You know what, Danny? I don't read all that good either. I'd like to read Dr. Seuss all the time if I could." Danny smiled.

"Want me to read it to you?"

"Sure, Danny." Danny started to hop off the bed but Zack stopped him. "I'll get it." Zack pushed the blanket back and saw he was wearing the same hospital pajamas as Danny. "Hey, we're twins." Danny snickered. Zack retrieved the book and returned to his spot. He patted the bed beside him and Danny scooted into position and opened the book.

Carey, Kurt, and Cody all but fell out of the rental car in their haste to see Zack. Details of their son's escape and rescue were still sketchy but they knew he was alive and knew where he was and that was all that was important. Carey had her door open before Kurt had even killed the ignition and Cody was right behind her. They bundled up against the blowing snow and hurried to the doors. The stepped through and saw the reception desk at the junction of three hallways.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over," the young woman behind the counter told her, barely looking up from her magazine. "If you come back tomorrow between the hours of -"

"Stop talking," Carey told her and the lady looked up. "My son is here and I will see him. Tonight." The threat was implied.

"Ma'am, you can't -"

"My son is Zack Martin," Carey said, sweetening her voice slightly after a look from Kurt reminded her that honey worked better than vinegar. "He was kidnapped and escaped and somehow ended up here."

The clerk looked like she was going to protest and cite the rules again but her humanity got in the way. "Hang on just a moment, please." Carey took a step back and put an arm around Cody's shoulder and waited as a doctor was paged. Less than two minutes later, a tall man in a white jacket strode to the counter.

"I'm Doctor Howard. You must be the Martins," he said as he shook their hands.

"How is Zack?"

"He's resting comfortably at the moment. Follow me and I'll tell you more along the way." The Martins fell in line behind him as the doctor lead them into an elevator. "I was just heading up to check on him when Michelle paged me." He flipped open a chart. "I'll give you the short version. Zack was brought in here about three hours or so ago and for the most part, he came through in remarkably good shape for all that he went through. We did the standard sexual assault kit and that came back as well as could be expected. We're waiting on the blood work to come back to make sure he didn't pick anything nasty up from his attacker." The doctor turned a page on the chart. "He somehow seems to have avoided any frostbite even after being outside in a blizzard for almost a full day. That's a big plus. He's suffering from a little dehydration but we had him on IVs for a while." The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.

"So are there any minuses on that chart, Doctor?" Kurt asked as they started down a hallway.

"One. We had to put a couple of screws and a plate in one of his hands and then cast it."

"Oh. Oh my. What happened?" Carey asked.

"Crush trauma. From what we've been able to put together so far, it happened while they were trying to get away."

"Who's _they_?" Cody asked the doctor.

"Zack and the boy he escaped with. Danny Doe according to the file. That's not his last name," he added for Cody's benefit and received a scowl in reply.

"I know that," Cody said indignantly. "Doe is the last name that police and hospitals give-" Cody went silent as his mouth was covered by Kurt's hand.

"Not the time, kid."

"Right. Sorry, Doctor," Cody apologized.

"No harm done. Anyway, we're here." The doctor pulled the door open. "I'll give you guys some time," he told them as he stepped aside.

"Thanks, Dr. Howard."

"Would you eat green eggs and ham?" Zack asked as Danny turned the page of the book.

"Maybe. Do you think the ham is really green, too?"

"No idea. All I know is that it would probably be better than any food they have here."

"That bad?"

"Probably. The last time I was in a hospital they tried to feed me stuff that looked like baby food and tasted like dirty underwear," Zack said, smiling before adding a bit more. "The Jell-o was good, though. I ate a bunch of that."

"Why were you in the hospital?"

"I fell out of a tree and knocked myself out. They thought I had..." Zack paused as the door opened and he saw his mother walk through. "Mom!" Carey flew across the room and Zack barely had time to call out "Dad!" and "Cody!" before they were all around him and drowning him in hugs.

"Oh Zack...I thought we'd lost you," Carey said.

"We were so worried," Kurt added.

"I didn't know if I'd ever see you again," Cody said with tears in his eyes.

"I'm fine, really," Zack told them when they final released their strangleholds. "I'm fine."

"Hey, Zack, I think I'm going to go back to my bed for a little while," Danny told him and started inching his way down past the rail.

"No way, Danny. Get back up here." He wrapped his bad hand over Danny's shoulder. "Guys, this is Danny. He helped me get away. Danny, this is my mom, my dad, and my brother Cody."

"Uh, hey," Danny said and waved shyly. "I didn't really do that much when we got away. Zack did all the work. He just carried me after I hurt my foot."

"Nope. You kept me going, Danny," Zack told him. "If you weren't with me I would have just given up after the first night and froze out there."

"Thank you, Danny," Carey said as she hugged him, too. Cody and Kurt quickly followed suit.

"You're welcome."

The door opened again and Dr. Howard came inside pushing a wheel chair. "I hate to break up the reunion, but we need to steal Danny for a while. They're going to put your foot in a cast after all, kiddo."

"I have a..whatever?"

"A hairline fracture? Yes you do. It's a little one but it will likely get worse if we don't fix it now."

"Can I have a red one like Zack?" Danny asked, tapping his hand against Zack's cast.

"I don't see why not," Dr. Howard told him as he rolled the chair to the edge of the bed. "Arms up." Danny raised his arms and was lifted from the bed and put down gently on the chair.

"See you in a little bit, Danny," Zack said to his friend as he was wheeled out of the room. Danny waved and disappeared behind the door.

"So what happened, Zack?" Cody asked once they were alone.

Zack didn't answer immediately. He leaned back against the pillows and the events of the last few days all flooded through his mind. "I know I'll have to tell you guys everything soon, but for now can we just let it go? I don't want to think about it right now. I just want to be with you all."

"That's perfectly okay with us, son, we're just glad to have you back," Kurt said as he patted Zack's leg. "The details can wait. You're back with us where you belong." That generated another group hug and more than a few tears of happiness.

"Mom? What's going to happen to Danny?" Zack asked once they'd all let go and wiped their eyes.

"They're going to put his ankle in a cast so it'll heal faster," she told him.

"No, I mean after all this."

"Oh. I...I don't know, Zack. I haven't thought about it."

"He can come stay with us, right?"

"Zack..."

"Who's going to look out for him? Who's going to take care of him?"

"Someone that's qualified to do it, that's who, Zack," Kurt told his son.

"What if you're wrong, Dad? He's an orphan, you know. What if they just stick him back in another home?"

"Zack, come on now. Relax and think about it. Danny is going to need lots of help from people who have trained and studied for years to handle just this sort of thing. It'll take a long time before before all his scars heal."

"What about me?" Zack asked, raising his arms in emphasis.

"You'll get some help, too, Zack," Carey told him.

"No, that's not what I mean. What better a person to help him along than someone else who's been through the same thing?"

"Zack, you're not hearing me," Kurt told him, exasperation starting to build in his voice.

"Kurt, come out into the hallway with me for a minute," Carey said to him and pulled gently on his elbow. He looked between Carey and Zack before nodding and following her out, making sure the door was closed behind him.

"Now that Mom and Dad are gone," Cody said, "I really did miss you and really was worried, Zack." He climbed up on the bed and gave Zack a very strong hug.

"Don't get all mushy on me, Cody." He laughed and hugged his brother back just as hard. "But I know. I missed you guys, too. Really bad. I didn't know if I'd ever see you all again. I was scared the whole time."

"I'm just glad you got through it okay," Cody told him as he sat back.

"You helped."

"Huh? How'd I do anything?"

"It was really weird, Cody. I had just cried myself to sleep after...after some bad stuff happened...and you were in my dream. But it didn't feel like a dream."

"I was? What'd I say?"

"You set me straight on a few things," Zack told him and Cody waited for him to explain. "Basically you told me to quit being a little baby and to wise up and get my ass out of there. You said _ass_, too."

"That was a dream then," Cody snickered. "But while we're sharing strange things, Sasha told me that I spaced out or something a few times while you were missing. After I came back from wherever I was, I could always feel you a little."

"You think Mom would believe that?" Zack asked.

"She would. Dad on the other hand..."

"Not a chance." Both boys grinned and relaxed, enjoying each other's company. A minute or so passed before Zack broke the quiet. "What do you think they're talking about out there? Danny?"

"Probably so."

"What do you think, Cody?"

"I don't know, Zack. He's not a puppy. He's probably going to need a lot of help to get through everything."

"But-"

"But," Cody interrupted, "if it is that important to you, I'll do everything I can to help."

"Thanks, Cody. I mean it."

"I know, Zack." He leaned in and hugged Zack again. "I don't know what I can do but I'll try."

"Don't tell me you're even thinking about this, Carey."

"A little."

"Bad idea."

"It might be. But you can't tell me you didn't see how close they were in there."

"I did. And I don't like it."

"What do you...that better not mean what I think it means." Carey's voice, soft up to then, became harsh.

"No, it's not." She gave him a supremely stern look. "Okay, maybe it bothers me a little like that but right now that's completely irrelevant." Kurt paused before starting over. "What I saw when I looked at the two of them was two boys that have obviously bonded through a terrible experience. Of course they're going to be close."

"So you're not with me on this at all, are you?"

"I can't be, Carey. Zack is my son. Maybe you're right, maybe them staying together might turn out for the best. But maybe it won't. What if, even after all the treatment and help we can get him, what if he's a little ticking time bomb that goes off one day?"

"What if it's Zack that turns out that way? What if after we get him all the help we can, it's Zack that turns into the time bomb, Kurt?" Carey retorted.

"Oh, that's low, Carey."

"Maybe it is but the point is that we don't know."

"He's known the boy for what? Three days?"

"So? I knew I was going to marry you after our first date, Kurt."

"Yeah, and look how that turned out," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just saying that it's not the same thing. Why are you so into this, Carey?"

"I don't know, Kurt. It just feels right. Like it's something that I need to do."

"Carey...I know it feels like the right thing to do. I don't want him to be pawned off on some foster family that doesn't care any more than you do but come on. Zack is our son. Danny is not. I don't want you doing this out of any sense of obligation."

"I'm not." Carey turned and leaned up against the far wall and crossed her arms.

"This is the part where you're going to tell me that you have full custody and what I say really doesn't matter, isn't it?"

"I wasn't, no. But I still want you behind me on this. I don't even know if it's possible to take Danny home with us. I just want you to think about it instead of dismissing it out of hand."

"Okay," Kurt said after a long silence. "On one condition. If it starts to look like this arrangement isn't going to work, for _any _reason, I want him gone."

"Deal," Carey said to him, crossing the space between them to give him a hug. "Thanks."

They opened the door and heard the twins' conversation abruptly dry up. Zack looked as anxious as Carey had ever seen him and even the stoic Cody seemed a bit on edge.

"So? Can he?" Zack asked before the door had even shut behind them.

Carey took a deep breath before answering. "I want you to hear me out completely before you say anything, okay, Zack?" he nodded. "I want to say he can right now but I can't." A frown started to cross Zack's face. "Wait, wait...I want him to but it's not that simple. I'm going to make some calls in the morning and see what we can do, okay?" Zack nodded and she could see his eyes getting a little moist.

"Thanks, Mom," he said softly. She went to him and wrapped him in a hug.

"You're welcome. Like I said, we can't promise anything but we'll do everything we can." Carey felt him nod his head against his chest. She rubbed his hair. "Don't say anything to Danny yet, please. Let me see what happens first." Zack nodded again.

Carey had barely released him from her embrace when Danny came through the door, quickly followed by the doctor. He rolled up to Zack's bed. "Check out my cast, Zack. Dr. Howard said you can sign it in the morning. If you want to."

"Of course I want to, Danny," Zack told him.

"I hate to be the bad guy, Mr. and Mrs. Martin, but it's getting late and we need to feed and water the animals before we close the zoo for the night," Dr. Howard told the group.

Zack looked sad again but Kurt stopped him. "We'll be back first thing in the morning, kid. You boys need to get some rest."

"I guess," Zack admitted and Danny nodded. Goodbyes were said and the Martins, minus Zack, left.

"I like your family, Zack," Danny told him.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool. Don't tell them I said that, though," Zack joked.

"Don't worry, I won't." Danny wheeled his chair around in a circle. "You don't think they'll feed us that stinky baby food for dinner, do they?"

Zack was about to answer but Dr. Howard beat him to it. "Nah, they only serve that in Boston hospitals. I bet I can round you guys up a burger or something. What do you say? I won't tell if you won't."

"My lips are sealed, Doctor," Zack told him and Danny quickly agreed. Dr. Howard smiled.

After a stop for some burgers and fries, the remaining Martins pulled into the parking lot of a little motel. A few minutes later they were collapsing on any soft surface, drained from a day of ups and downs.

"First thing in the morning I'm going to find out who I need to talk to about bringing Danny home with us," Carey said.

"Probably whatever New York calls their version of child protective services, I guess," Kurt told her as he toed his boots off.

"That sounds right." Carey took off her own shoes and tossed them in a corner. The three of them sat around and tried to watch television but Carey couldn't keep her mind on the show. "That's it. I'm calling Moseby now."

"Why would you call him?" Kurt asked.

"I want to get the ball rolling now."

"Do you think Mr. Tipton can pull any strings?" Cody asked as he rolled over to look at her.

"I don't really want to name drop like that but if it'll help, I'll find out. Hopefully Moseby can tell me who to call. I'll be back." Carey pulled the phone from her coat pocket and stepped out of the room. Cody noticed his father shake his head and sigh as she left.

"You're not happy about this are you, Dad?"

"Honestly? No, I'm not. But I'm going to side with your mom on this one."

"Why not?"

"Long story short, I'm worried about the situation. Let's let it go for the night, huh, Cody?"

"Sure."

Five minutes later Carey returned to the room and tossed the phone on the bed. "Well, he said he'd call me back as soon as he finds anything out."

"How long, Mom?"

"He wasn't sure, Cody. I'd guess sometime tomorrow or the next day we'll hear from one of Mr. Tipton's lawyers."

The next morning had broken and Cody was just stepping out of their room's shower when he heard his mother's excited voice. He hurriedly wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out into the room. Carey was holding the phone out in front of her and smiling like it was made of diamonds. He looked around but didn't see his father.

"You're kidding me, right, Moseby?"

"No, Carey, I'm not," Moseby answered over speakerphone. "You've been granted temporary emergency custody of Danny." Cody could hear the smile in Moseby's voice.

"Incredible," Carey said. "I figured it would take at least a week before we even had a hearing."

"You'd be surprised how much faster the legal system can work when the name 'Tipton' is attached to a lawyer's firm."

"I guess so. I can't thank you enough, Moseby. I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

"Just get Zack and the rest of you, and Danny, too, of course, home as soon as possible and we'll call it even." What Cody heard in Moseby's voice this time was a blush. He grinned.

"Will do, Marion. See you soon." She closed the phone and fell back on the bed. "Wow."

"So it's done?" Cody asked.

"It is for now. There will be more legal hoops to jump through later but we've already cleared the biggest one."

"Wow is right," Cody echoed, a bit taken aback at the suddenness of it all. He'd come to collect one brother and was leaving with two.

"Tell me about it, kiddo. How about you dry off and put some clothes on? Your dad will back with coffee in a minute and we'll hit the road. Sooner we leave, sooner we get home." Cody grinned and grabbed a set of clean clothes and headed back to the bathroom.

Unlike the day before, they drove to the hospital at a much more leisurely pace and even waited until the car came to a complete stop to get out. They strode to the door and walked in, pausing only to sign in at the desk before heading to the elevator. The doors opened and they stepped in.

"Hold the door, please!" A familiar voice called and Kurt put his hand out. Dr. Howard quickly joined them.

"Good morning, Doctor," Kurt said as he shook the man's hand.

"It does seem to be a good morning. I saw discharge papers on both boys' charts when I checked on them earlier." He punched the button for the third floor.

"Thank you. Have you told them yet?"

"Oh no. I thought I'd save that for you." The elevator stopped and they stepped out. The Martins went towards Zack's room while the doctor headed the other way. "I think it's very noble what you're doing," he said as he ducked into another room.

They walked into the boys' room and found them sitting together eating cereal and watching cartoons on a little roll-away television. Zack put his bowl aside and greeted them while Danny waved with a mouthful.

"Morning boys. Sleep well?"

"Not too bad. No Cody snoring all night."

"Hey! You're the one that snores, Zack, not me!" Cody retorted.

"Trust me, Danny, it's him, not me."

"You woke me up, Zack. You do snore," Danny informed him.

"You traitor!" Zack laughed and stuck his spoon in Danny's side.

Carey let them settle down before slowly letting them in on the good news. "So...what do you two think about getting a real breakfast instead of some cereal? I was thinking eggs, bacon, maybe some toast to go with it. Pancakes, too, if you want."

"That sounds good, Mom," Zack said.

"I haven't had eggs in I don't know how long," Danny added. He couldn't put the bowl of cold cereal aside fast enough.

"It does sound good," Carey agreed. "And I was thinking that after we get done eating, we'll get on a plane and fly back to Boston. What do you think about that?"

"Mom! Are you serious? Really?" Zack exclaimed.

"Yes, Zack. I'm serious."

"Wow, cool, Zack! You get to fly in a plane!" Danny said, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Not so fast, Danny," Carey said. "Would you want to come with us? Maybe for good?"

Danny didn't know what to say. Calling him confused would be a huge understatement. "What?" was all he could manage and even that took effort.

Cody walked over to the bed. "She wants to know if you want to come live with Zack and me."

"For keeps?"

"Yes sir," Carey answered. "For keeps."

"So what do you think?" Cody asked, bending over a little and putting his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Can I, Zack?"

Zack, who had until that point kept his emotions in check, couldn't any longer. He felt his lips quiver and his eyes leaked. "Of course you can, Danny." Zack wiped his face with the hem of his shirt. "Of course you can."

"I'd like that," Danny said and wrapped one arm around each twin.

_Wow. It's over. Almost four years in the making and it's done. I honestly think I feel lighter inside, like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I know that sounds kind of dumb, but it's true. When I was off on my real-life sabbatical, I'd always think about this story and promise myself I'd come back and finish it. Well, it took a good 18 months or so for me to make good on that promise but I did. I'd like to thank everyone who's read this from the very beginning back in '07 as well as those of you who picked it up when I started it a second time. Thank you, guys (and gals!). Seriously._

_I'm debating on writing a sequel to this story since I don't really think it can end here. Yes, Zack is home and everything, but I'm thinking I need to write about the aftermaths of everything that happened. I'm not sure yet though, but I'm wondering how many of you would be interested in reading it. If it happens, it won't be for a while since I need to relax from this story and write some lighter stuff. So yes? No?_

_And before I go, I feel like I should tell you that even though I think I'm a tough ol' guy, I got a little moisture around the eyes as I wrote the final few paragraphs. Of course, like Zack said, if you tell anyone I'll deny it._

_Thanks again!_


End file.
